Fans divided after Dhoni’s reaction prompts umpire to retract ‘wide ball’ decision

SRH captain David Warner was also seen looking dismayed in the dugout

dhoni-csk-srh-iplt20 M.S. Dhoni gestures during Chennai Super Kings' IPL match against Sunrisers Hyderabad | iplt20.com

Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a relieved man after his side secured a 20-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday in Dubai. However, fans are divided over one particular incident that happened during the match, and are calling out the former India captain for his behaviour.

With the Sunrisers chasing the target of 168, and CSK gunning for a victory that had eluding them in the past few games, this was an important moment for both sides. However, in the 18th over, CSK’s Shardul Thakur, who was bowling to Rashid Khan, bowled what seemed like a wide yorker. The umpire Paul Reiffel, who had almost stretched his arms to indicate a wide delivery, retracted his decision after watching Dhoni’s angry reaction.

Dhoni, who was keeping behind the stumps, seemed to call out to the umpire that the ball was just past the tramline. Reiffel seems to have heeded the CSK captain’s words and changed his mind about the ‘wide ball’.

SRH captain David Warner, who was sitting in his team’s dugout, also looked dismayed by how things went down. At this point, Hyderabad needed 24 runs from 11 balls. Kane Williamson hit a half-century for Sunrisers, but it wasn’t enough for the side to reach the target, and they fell 20 runs short.

On social media, fans seemed divided over what happened on the field. While some said that Dhoni as captain should make certain decisions for the team, other said that it was wrong of him to intimidate an umpire into favouring his side. Some pointed out that Dhoni was “bullying” the umpire.

Last year, in a similar incident, Dhoni stormed on to the field and exchanged words with umpire Ulhas Gandhe following a ‘no-ball’ confusion during their IPL match against Rajasthan Royals. 

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