MS Dhoni doesn’t lose his cool that easily. After all, its not for nothing that he earned the sobriquet Captain Sool. But something happened during the Rajasthan Royals match against chennai Super Kings. It was a high-voltage one and each run was vital to decide the result of the match. In the last over, Ben Stokes bowled a delivery which was above waist high as it was clear in the replays. Even the buzzers at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium went off and the straight umpire (Ulhas Gandhe) was seen signalling the no ball but somehow it was declared a legal delivery.
In a match where the team needed 8 runs off 3 balls, if a bowler bowls a no ball, it is a big advantage for the batting team as the next delivery is a free hit for the batsman. Dhoni, who got out of the previous delivery was furious with the bizarre decision. He stormed into the ground pointing his finger at the umpire Gandhe asking why square leg umpire Bruce Oxenford overruled him.
When MS Dhoni lost his cool
Boss….. pic.twitter.com/v4wJ7r98pf— Shakti Solanki (@shaktisolanki00) April 12, 2019
The CSK skipper had a heated conversation with both umpires but they did not signal it a no ball. Ideally, the equation after the no ball would have been 5 runs needed off 3 balls with Mitchell Santner facing the hat-trick ball.
The 37-year-old was later fined 50 per cent of his match fees for a level 2 Code of Conduct breach under article 2.20 which deals with ”conduct that is contrary to spirit of the game”.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the last-over drama:
I don’t see why Dhoni is being fined for stepping on to the field.
He is a Lieutenant Colonel in our Territorial Army. He is trained to cross the boundary.— Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) April 12, 2019
Have always been a big Dhoni admirer, but he was clearly out of line walking out like that. Lucky to get away with just a small fine. #VIVOIPL
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) April 12, 2019
Umpire decision is final, whether it’s right or wrong. No player has the right to question him. Be it dhoni or sachin or virat.! Dhoni is a player. Not bigger than the game.! He was behaving like a school kid by coming in the ground. Totally unacceptable #RRvCSK #IPLT20 #RRvCSK pic.twitter.com/HeMdSX3bKV
— Abhishek Agarwal (@Abhishek_0055) April 11, 2019
Umpiring standards have been pretty low in this #IPL and that was a no-ball given and reversed. Enough to feel crossed and miffed. But the opposition captain has no right to walk out on the pitch after being dismissed. Dhoni set a wrong precedent tonight. #RRvCSK #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 11, 2019
Among the firsts for me in today’s game was the sight of Dhoni walking out onto the ground. As @MichaelVaughan said on #CricbuzzLIVE it is something he will realise he shouldn’t have done.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 11, 2019
This is not a good look for the game … No place at all for a Captain to storm onto the pitch from the Dugout … !! #IPL
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) April 11, 2019
Dhoni walks at last over to Umpires#RRvCSK pic.twitter.com/0EKXuiQIwY
— Sujay Sinha (@sujaysinha7) April 12, 2019
Spirit of cricket is bullshit. I support what Dhoni did. This so called tournament is being remembered for the wrong reasons. Let those dumbass umpires and the IPL go to hell.
— Jay Deshpande (@JayDeshpande8) April 11, 2019
Virat to Dhoni yesterday pic.twitter.com/qo6bIqOefL
— श्रिया (@memeswalichhori) April 12, 2019
Umpiring standards during the IPL 2019 have been poor. The first howler they committed was when they did not check Lasith Malinga’s no ball. The last ball turned out to be decisive as the game went right down to the wire. This triggered Kohli to confront umpires and later on commenting, “This is IPL, not club cricket”.
Many have said that Dhoni had no right barging in when the umpire had given the decision, which is true. But maybe improving the umpiring standards will help to avoid situations like these which create controversy.
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