Matheesha Pathirana's sister Vishuka was delighted to come across as MS Dhoni as she shared pictures on her Instagram handle of her meeting with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain. Dhoni also met the Sri Lankan fast bowler's entire family ahead of the IPL 2023 final on Sunday in Ahmedabad.
Vishuka posted a handful of pictures and captioned. "Now we are sure that malli is in safe hands when Thala said, ‘You have nothing to worry about Matheesha, he’s always with me’. These moments were even beyond what I had ever dreamt of."
Pathirana has been the trump card for Dhoni, especially in the middle-overs and the 20-year-old hasn't led his captain down. The right-arm paceman has picked up 17 scalps in 11 wickets this season at 19.23. His best figures of 4-0-15-3 came against the Mumbai Indians at the Chepauk.
MS Dhoni offers a piece of advice to Matheesha Pathirana:
Following his stunning outing against the Mumbai Indians, Dhoni stated that Pathirana shouldn't even get close to red-ball cricket as Sri Lanka can produce one of their greatest assets by preserving him for the ICC events. He said at the post-match presentation.
"I personally think he is not someone who should play a lot of red-ball cricket. I think he shouldn't even get close to it. Even in white-ball cricket, the 50-over version he should play as less as possible. He should play the big ICC tournaments because he is not somebody who will change a lot. This [having an impact in short bursts] is what he will do, so you can always use him at crucial times. But make sure that he is fit and available for all ICC tournaments and he will be a great asset for Sri Lanka."
Pathirana is expected to play in the IPL 2023 final.
