Despite being a bonafide legend of the game, even the great MS Dhoni has had his fair share of controversies. From the infamous rotation policy implemented during India’s 2012 tour of Australia, to facing a two-year-ban with Chennai Super Kings, Dhoni has seen it all. If there were highs – winning all three major white-ball ICC titles, defeating Australia in the 2008 CB Series – Dhoni endured several lows too. The only Indian captain to receive a 0-4 thrashing in consecutive Test series, losing three World Cup knockout games, it’s been quite the ride if your name is Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
But while the word ‘controversy’ carries a serious connotation, Dhoni’s run-ins during the Indian Premier League are more like a piece of entertainment, if truth be told. They were controversies alright, but fun controversies. And speaking of the ‘C’ word, where were you when Dhoni charged towards the umpire after he notoriously signalled a no-ball during a high-voltage IPL tie between CSK and Rajasthan Royals in 2019?
Dhoni had almost seen the game through, getting out at a crucial time and then following the proceedings from the dugout. But his last-minute dismissal and a bit of foul play involved by the umpire, riled him up to the extent that Dhoni straightaway entered the ground, charged towards the authorities, pointed fingers at them and openly challenged their call. Five years removed from those unbelievable scenes that unfolded at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, Mohit Sharma, who was in that dugout, relived a Dhoni classic.
“There’s one match which I can never forget, that happened in Rajasthan. Even you’ll remember it very clearly. In the dugout we kept screaming ‘Mahi bhai, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go’, but he didn’t even bother to turn back once. It’s like he had already made up his mind,” Mohit said on the ‘2 sloggers’ podcast.
“We were sitting outside; he came out fuming after getting out. He was angry, and the situation was such that he shouldn’t have gotten out because he usually doesn’t give away his wicket in such matches. So, he came and sat down. And suddenly it happened. And he asked ‘didn’t the umpire declare it as a no-ball? Who bowled?’ We were sitting there, 2-3 people. First, he asked us. Then we said that he (umpire) raised his hand. And after that he didn’t stop. He went inside and the rest you know.”
What exactly happened
To throw in some context, CSK needed eight runs to win off the last over. Ben Stokes, on for the final six deliveries, bowled a full-toss to new man in Mitchell Santner, which was signalled a no-ball by umpire Ulhas Gandhe as he felt it was waist high. However, the official at square leg, Bruce Oxenford, overruled the decision which meant that CSK were left with six to win off the last two.
That is when all hell broke loose. Santner and Ravindra Jadeja even protested the call, but Oxenford had made up his mind. And that is when a fuming Dhoni barged on to the field, argued with the umpire leading to utter chaos. CSK eventually managed to win the match, with Santner hitting a six off the last ball, but the last few minutes produced quite the spectacle. After all these years later, Mohit believes Dhoni did all of that in the heat of the moment and would probably want to delete that piece of memory from his mind altogether.
“He came straight to me and said ‘Mohit, come here’. Bring the laptop, show me. Then I told the analyst to show Mahi bhai the replay. So, he showed it to him and then he said, ‘It’s a no ball’. Then he was like that it doesn’t matter to him if you win or lose the match from that (no ball). It’s not about that. But you cannot change your decision under someone else’s pressure. That’s all he was saying. Now what happened, what didn’t happen, it was unfortunate. It shouldn’t have happened. But it didand was fun to watch,” Mohit added.
“Mahi bhai in these situations is like ‘it happened in the heat of the moment, what can we do now?’It shouldn’t have happened, even he says that.”
