There was a only a mild discussion on social media on an MS Dhoni act which had even left Sunil Gavaskar fuming. And with Chennai Super Kings’ comfortable win, at the Chepauk, and against the defending champions Gujarat Titans, which sent them into their 10th IPL final, the incident was forgotten. But former ICC umpire Daryl Harper remembers it vividly as he launched a scathing attack on the CSK captain, accusing him of deliberating wasting time during the Qualifier 1 tie in a bid to win.
The incident had happened at the start of the 16th over of Gujarat Titans’ chase. CSK were comfortably cruising towards a win after getting the visitors six down for 102 runs with the equation reading – 71 off 30 balls. Dhoni wanted to end the game there itself for GT and hence decided to bring back Matheesha Pathirana into the attack. But the umpires had disallowed, initially.
Pathirana, who was introduced as an Impact Player, had so far bowled only one over in the match where he gave away 10 runs while bowling four wides. After the over, he had left the field for nine minutes and then came back to join the action before the start of the 16th over. And just when Dhoni handed the ball to Pathirana for the 16th over, the umpires intervened as Pathirana had to be on the pitch for the same amount as he was off the field in a bid to continue bowling and there as still four minutes left on the clock.
Dhoni and some ither CSK players was then seen in a heated discussion with the on-field umpires, which last more than four minutes thus giving Pathirana the chance to start the 16th over.
Speaking to Mid Day, Adelaide-based Harper was left furious as Dhoni’s act, accusing him of showing now respect for the spirit of the game and ignoring the decision of the umpire.
“Dhoni wasted time to allow his preferred bowling option to deliver the vital 16th over. That’s the only conclusion that I can draw from that disappointing spectacle. The issue for me is the lack of respect shown for the spirit of cricket and for the directions of the umpires. There were other [bowling] options for the captain, but they were ignored. Maybe, some people are bigger than the law or in this case, the spirit of cricket. It’s always disappointing to see the lengths that some people will go to in order to win,” said Harper.
Earlier on Tuesday, after Pathirana was allowed to bowl following the discussion with umpire, Gavaskar, who was on-air questioned the legitimacy of Dhoni’s tactics.
“You accept the umpire’s decision. Even if the umpire gets it wrong sometimes in high-pressure situations,” Gavaskar had said.
Nevertheless, CSK won by 15 runs and secured their place in the final.
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