Cricketing legend he may be, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is never above the rules. Rather Mahir should have shown more responsibility towards cricket to become a legend. The Chennai captain should have followed the spirit of cricket and not resorted to unethical means to win. Such is former ICC umpire Daryl Harper. In fact, despite being stopped by the on-field umpires in the first qualifier of IPL 2023, Harper is not happy with the way Dhoni deliberately wasted time and allowed Mathisa Pathirana to bowl.
Harper considers Dhoni’s act unethical: Here’s what happened in the 2nd innings of the 1st Qualifier of IPL 2023 vs Chipak Gutrat. Gujarat needed 71 runs in the last 5 overs to win. 4 wickets were in hand. In such a situation, the reins of the match were in the hands of Dhoni.
In such a situation, Dhoni handed the ball to Mathisa Pathirana for the 16th over. But the on-field umpires intervened. Because Pathirana went out of the ground after bowling his first over. According to the rules, as long as Pathirana is out, he cannot bowl without spending time on the field. The umpires said, Pathirana will be eligible to bowl only when another 4 minutes have passed.
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Several Chennai Super Kings cricketers, including Dhoni, were later seen talking to the umpires. Dhoni spent more than 4 minutes arguing with the umpires. As a result, the umpires were forced to allow Pathirana to bowl despite initially being stopped.
Here’s what Harper said about Dhoni: For good reasons, experts did not see such behavior of Dhoni. Sunil Gavaskar told the commentary box that the umpire’s instructions should be followed. If the umpires take a wrong decision in a pressure match, then the captains should accept that decision as well.
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In this context, Harper told Mid-Day, “Dhoni deliberately wasted time bowling his favorite bowler in the 16th over.” This is one reason I can see behind the dismal turn of events. It strikes me as a lack of respect for the spirit of cricket and the umpire’s decision. The captain had other bowling options as well. But Dhoni did not pay attention to him. Some people may be above the rules and may be above the spirit of cricket in this matter. It is really disappointing to see how far some people will go to win.
