During the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 Qualifier 1 game between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Gujarat Titans (GT), MS Dhoni was spotted indulging in a lengthy argument with the on-field umpires. The incident occurred after the completion of the 15th over and before the start of the 16th over during GT's run chase. The umpires initially stopped Matheesha Pathirana from bowling the 16th over because the Sri Lankan pacer had spent some time outside the field and had to be on the field for the same time before becoming eligible to bowl.
The umpires communicated the law to Dhoni but the CSK captain was adamant on giving the ball to Pathirana. Dhoni argued with the umpires and wasted time before the Sri Lankan pacer became eligible to bowl. In the end, Dhoni succeeded in his strategy and Pathirana was allowed to bowl the 16th over.
Former Indian captain and legendary batter, Sunil Gavaskar reacted to the entire incident and defended Dhoni by tightening the screws on the umpires. The cricketer-turned-pundit stated that the umpires are supposed to be more firm with their decisions.
"I think we have been taught all the time to accept the umpire's decision. You can obviously ask for a clarification and that's what Dhoni was clearly doing, asking for a clarification. My thinking is that rather than looking at what Dhoni did, you have to look at what the umpires did," Gavaskar said in an interview with IndiaToday.
"Maybe since it was MS Dhoni, they indulged him and started talking with him but if it was anybody else, they would have gone to their position and set get on. And that is what they should have done.
"I would not point a finger at MS Dhoni and I would ask the umpire why they took so much time to clarify whatever it was. You don't know what exactly happened, nobody has come out in the middle and clarified what had happened. The umpires, to a large extent, they should have been firm," Gavaskar added.
Meanwhile, the Super Kings stormed into their 10th IPL final after defeating Hardik Pandya's men by 15 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
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