Follow UsChennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni lavished praise on young Matheesha Pathirana, and stated that he expects the 19-year-old to do big things next season in the yellow colours of CSK.
Signed as a replacement player for the injured Adam Milne, Pathirana impressed on his debut against Gujarat Titans, finishing with figures of 2/24, including striking on his very first ball. The youngster, in comparison, had a rough outing in the game against the Rajasthan Royals on Friday, but still impressed in patches.
In the aftermath of the game, young Pathirana received big words of praise from his skipper Dhoni, who hailed the 19-year-old as CSK’s Lasith Malinga.
“Our Malinga, he's really good. It's difficult to pick him and I feel he will definitely contribute next year for us in a big way,” Dhoni told host broadcaster Star Sports.
Dhoni took the name of Pathirana while talking about the younger players in the CSK side. The 40-year-old spoke about the development of another impressive young bowler, Mukesh Choudhary, and said that the key for youngsters is to learn and grow from the experiences they garner. Dhoni said that he was mighty impressed by the growth of Mukesh, who after a rough start ended up finishing the season really strongly.
“Whatever games they have got, they have learned a lot from it,” Dhoni said, talking about the youngsters in the squad.
“One of the biggest examples is Mukesh. He has played all the games but what is impressive is to see from the first game to the last game how he has improved, how he can bowl at the death. Still what he will do is go back and learn out of the outings he has got.
“That's what we really want from players. Once they have got that experience, what is important from next year once they turn up from IPL is that they don't start from scratch again. That is what is needed from the youngsters and most of them have made the most of whatever chance they have got.”
Reflecting on the defeat against the Royals, Dhoni claimed that the cluster of wickets his side lost post the powerplay ended up costing the team the game. At one point, the Super Kings were coasting at 85/1 in the 8th over, but a mini-collapse saw them lose the next three wickets for just 10 runs. Moeen Ali had raced to a 19-ball fifty inside the powerplay, but the mini-collapse ended up forcing the southpaw to put a hand-brake on his innings.
Dhoni rued the flurry of wickets post the powerplay, and claimed that his side might have ended up posting a formidable score had someone given support to Moeen and allowed him to bat in fifth gear.
"What we need to realize is we're playing a batter light. Once we lost those quick wickets, Moeen had to change his momentum. I feel if one of the batters had batted with him, he could have continued his momentum. The role and responsibility got slightly swapped once we lost those wickets and that made it really difficult.
“So a batter light with the last four, they're not really known for their batting. If we went hard and lost another wicket there, we wouldn't have got anything that we would look to defend. I would say [we were] 10-15 [runs short]. You need to bowl well after that. If their openers get going and if they get too many in the first six, then also 180 is not enough.
“Depending on whatever the par score is, the start is important, the first six overs specially on wickets that are really nice. So I feel definitely 15 runs short.”
CSK finish the season with 8 points, having registered just 4 wins in 14 games. A big Mumbai win on Saturday could see the Super Kings get pushed to the very bottom of the table.