Former International Cricket Council (ICC) umpire Daryl Harper has criticised Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni for not respecting the spirt of the game. His remark came after Qualifier 1 which was played between the Gujarat Titans (GT) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the MA Chidrambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tusday (May 23).
During the second innings of the match, Dhoni was involved in an arguement with the on-field umpires prior to what was the 16th over of the run-chase. Commentators on air later clarified what was it all about. The Men in Yellow's Matheesha Pathirana was out of the field for a few minutes and thus wasn't allowed to immediately come back and deliver an over. It is to be noted that the umpires were well within their rights to stop Pathirana from bowling as any who's been off the field for over eight minutes has to spend the same amount of time on the field before coming in to bowl.
However, Dhoni it seems like was desperate to bring back the Sri Lankan pacer just five minutes after his return to the field when he had spent more minutes off the ground. And when the umpires objected, Dhoni got into an argument with them which looked like an attempt to eat up time. Following Dhoni's tactics, he has been cricticised by Harper for disrespecting umpires and the spirt of the game.
"Of course MS Dhoni wasted time to allow his preferred bowling option to deliver the vital sixteenth 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 options for the captain but they were ignored,” Harper was quoted as saying by Mid Day.
“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,” he added.