Will Gamesmanship Cost MS Dhoni IPL 2023 Final?

Ahead of the IPL 2023 Final to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium on May 28, fans especially of the Chennai Super Kings could be in for a shocker. The news - CSK skipper MS Dhoni might be barred from played the major final against Gujarat Titans due to slow over-rate during their Qualifier 1 clash against the very same opposition that caused a four-minute delay. (More Cricket News)

The incident took place when CSK pacer Mateesha Pathirana, who was supposed to bowl the 16th over, was not allowed to by the umpires as the Sri Lankan was not on the field. Apparently, Pathirana had left the field in the second half of the chase of treating an undisclosed niggle. As per the new IPL rules, any player who leaves the field for more than eight minutes must be on the field for a similar amount of time after returning, after which he is allowed to bowl.

When Dhoni learned about this, he had a conversation with the on-field umpire Chris Gaffaney. It was learned that the Sri Lankan was out for nine minutes and the discussion that followed by MS Dhoni with the umpires was to whether the pacer could be allowed to bowl or not.

Despite that, the Chennai skipper told the match officials that he had no other option but to bowl out Pathirana despite the former telling him to wait for some time.

Following the incident, former ICC umpire Daryl Harper came down heavily on MS Dhoni and his 'antics' as the Aussie criticized the Indian icon for lacking respect towards the Spirit of the Game and for the on-field umpires. "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 Wisden.