IPL 2021: CSK do not have bowlers who can bowl yorkers regularly, says Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan has said the inability of the Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) bowlers to bowl yorkers at the death is a concern for the franchise.

CSK posted a mammoth score of 218/4 in their IPL 2021 encounter against the Mumbai Indians (MI) on Saturday. However, their bowlers failed to defend the score, with Kieron Pollard smashing them to all corners of the park to help the Rohit Sharma-led side register a last-ball win.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Irfan Pathan replied in the affirmative when asked if the lack of penetration in the CSK bowling is a concern for them.

"Absolutely and that was seen today as well. Yes, the Mumbai Indians batted very well but if you see the shots, it was all bad bowling. I feel you need to especially have bowlers who can bowl the yorkers, the Chennai Super Kings do not have any such bowler," said Pathan.

The former CSK player pointed out that all the other teams in the top half of the points table have bowlers who are adept at delivering yorkers.

"Can you give a name who can bowl six yorkers under pressure? RCB has Siraj, Mumbai Indians have Bumrah and he gets support from Trent Boult at the other end. In Delhi, you get Rabada," added Pathan.

Lungi Ngidi bowled a couple of good yorkers in the final over of the match. However, he delivered some juicy full tosses which were dispatched for boundaries by Kieron Pollard as MI scored the 16 runs required off the final over.

One more Record!Today, Lungi Ngidi Became 1st CSK bowler to concede 60+ runs In IPLNow MI remained Only team Whose bowlers never Conceded 60 Runs in IPL#MIvsCSK

— 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒔 (@Shebas_10dulkar) May 1, 2021

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"CSK do not have one or two bowlers who can defend the runs at the death" - Irfan Pathan

Sam Curran bowled an excellent 17th over for CSK [P/C: iplt20.com]

While acknowledging that CSK has plenty of bowling options, Irfan Pathan opined the lack of a specialist death bowler could prove to be their Achilles heel.

"There is no doubt CSK has a good all-round team, they have 7-8 bowling options but they do not have one or two bowlers who can defend the runs at the death on difficult pitches," said Pathan.

The 36-year-old concluded by stating that CSK will have to lift their game in this department if they harbor ambitions of winning their fourth IPL title.

"The ball was not getting wet today. If the ball gets wet, you face a lot of difficulties in bowling the yorker. Sam Curran showed how it can be done, bowled some good yorkers but after that one over, no one bowled yorkers properly. They will have to perform better if CSK wants to win the tournament," signed off Pathan.

Over of the match from Sam Curran. He is growing with every performance.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 1, 2021

Sam Curran conceded just two runs in the 17th over of the innings and also dismissed Krunal Pandya in the process. Despite that, the CSK bowlers were taken for 125 runs in the last eight overs, with their death-bowling problem coming to the fore.