"He told me not to worry" - CSK pacer Matheesha Pathirana on his conversation with MS Dhoni during IPL 2023 clash vs RCB

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pacer Matheesha Pathirana has revealed how skipper MS Dhoni motivated him after a costly first spell in the team's IPL 2023 encounter against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Monday.

In a video shared by CSK on their social media handles, Pathirana stated that he was nervous after conceding 28 runs from his first two overs. The fast bowler mentioned that Dhoni had a word with him, asking him to remain calm.

Recalling his conversation with the CSK captain, Pathirana said:

"After my two overs, which went for 28 runs, I was a bit nervous and captain [MS Dhoni] came and told me not to worry, be calm and trust your strengths. And that's what I did."

Pathirana bounced back towards the back end of the innings. He was tasked with bowling the crucial 18th and 20th overs of the run chase and gave away just 14 runs from them while also taking two wickets

The bowler further spoke about how Dhoni urged the CSK players not to panic when the RCB batters were going all guns blazing in the run-chase of 227.

"After the first innings, our captain said this is a good score for us but don't take it too easy because of the wicket and ground conditions it was very easy to chase the target," he said. "After the powerplay, they scored 60 or 75 runs. So after that, our captain spoke to us and he asked us not to panic because in cricket, things can be good as well as bad. So he asked us to be calm."

CSK registered an imposing 226-run total, thanks to fine half-centuries by Devon Conway (83) and Shivam Dube (52). The side ultimately won the high-scoring thriller by eight runs.

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"This win will help the morale of our team" - Matheesha Pathirana on CSK beating RCB

Matheesha Pathirana believes that CSK's victory over RCB will do wonders for the confidence of the team, given that they were able to defend a target in batting-friendly conditions.

He lauded the Chennai batters for their performances in the contest, suggesting that it wouldn't have been easy to win at the venue if they hadn't posted such a mammoth total upfront.

"This win will help the morale of our team," he said. "Because that was a very close game and we defended that score. and we batted well. I think everything was good. They [batters] played really well because if they didn’t play like that, it would have been really hard to defend on that wicket."

With three wins from five matches, MS Dhoni and Co. currently occupy the third spot in the IPL 2023 points table. They will next be seen in action against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday, April 21.