MS Dhoni’s BACK FLICK questionable with ICC’s fake fielding law coming into play

This rule could make Dhoni half as effective as he is and that could be a big jolt in his career

By: Ankit Banerjee |
October 8, 2017 1:07 pm

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been integral to India’s recent success against Australia in One Day Internationals, where Virat Kohli-led team India won 4-1. There were questions raised about MS Dhoni’s future ahead of the Sri Lanka series, but he allowed his game to answer the critics. MS Dhoni, today, is integral to India’s 2019 cricket World Cup hopes as well. But with ICC’s new set of rules coming into place, will MS Dhoni be half as effective he used to be a keeper? Yes, we are talking about the fake fielding rule, where a fielder doing so could be penalised. ICC’s latest amendments came into force on September 28.

The latest Law 41.5 states that: “It is unfair for any fielder willfully to attempt, by word or action, to distract, deceive or obstruct either batsman after the striker has received the ball”. If the umpires on the field determine that such deception is deliberate, they may give 5 penalty runs to the batting team.

Now, if that happens India will be at the receiving end.

Experts say that while deception is an integral part of the game and cricketers around the world strive to develop ways to outsmart their counterparts, the law is bound to give a hard time to on-field umpires to interpret what is “deliberate” and what is “deception, which clearly means players like MS Dhoni will be at the receiving end.

India’s bowling dominance, batting masterclass in a rain-curtailed encounter & a 1-0 series lead. Watch it all here https://t.co/1EcozW4wL4 pic.twitter.com/kTmUfe1bq4

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 8, 2017

Meanwhile, India beat Australia by 9 wickets in the 1st T20I at Ranchi. Kuldeep Yadav was awarded the Man of the Match for his bowling. He picked up two wickets in the rain-curtailed game.

The next game takes place on the 10th of October and Australia will be playing for survival.