But the charismatic skipper had a word of advice for the 20-year old, who has earned the moniker ‘Baby Malinga’ for his bowling action which is similar to the Lankan great, \u2013 \u2018don’t play red-ball cricket, in fact don’t even get close to it\u2019.
Pathirana with his sling arm action won the Man-of-the-Match award in Chennai after returning excellent figures of 3 for 15 in CSK’s six-wicket win against Mumbai Indians<\/a>.
Dhoni kept the bowler’s sling action, which could be prone to injuries, in mind as he cautioned Pathirana and also the Sri Lankan cricket administrators against playing him in all formats of the game.<\/p>\n
“People who don’t have any clean action, batsmen have a difficult time picking it. But his consistency, pace makes him special,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation.
“I feel he should not play red-ball cricket, not even get close to it, he can play only ICC tournaments. He is young and he would be a great asset for Sri Lankan cricket. Last time he came, he was lean but now he has put on muscle and is stronger.”
Dhoni opted to bowl first after winning the toss. He revealed he had wanted to bat first, but was outnumbered in the team meeting.<\/p>\n
“I was doubtful with the decision at the toss, I wanted to bat first but the think tank thought about the rain, I was slightly outnumbered and so we went with the majority.
“If there is some kind of a confusion then we sit and talk about it. I felt the wicket will slow down and that was the reason behind it, and even if rain comes then the majority of the game would have been done,” he said.
Dhoni said it was a crucial win as it gives them some cushion.
“It was a very crucial game for a simple reason, if you see the points table there’s a muddle. Last few games the results have not gone in our favour and so it is good to be on the winning side.”<\/p>\n
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