'Don't Do That In A Team Game': Irfan Pathan On MS Dhoni Denying A Single To Daryl Mitchell Against PBKS

MS Dhoni, Daryl Mitchell. (X)

Former Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni had to face criticism having denied his teammate Daryl Mitchell a chance to bat in the last over of the innings. The incident took place during Chennai Super Kings’ Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 fixture against Punjab Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday, May 1.

Dhoni’s decision sparked a controversy and former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan has shared his opinion on this matter. While speaking on Star Sports, the ex-India all-rounder expressed his disappointment over Dhoni not rotating the strike during the game against Punjab Kings. Pathan even went on to say that Dhoni should not have done it.

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“He shouldn’t have done that [refusing a single]. This is a team game. Don’t do that in a team game. The other guy [Daryl Mitchell] is also an international player. If he had been a bowler, I would have understood it for sure,” Pathan said.

“You have done that with [Ravindra] Jadeja and with Mitchell as well. You don’t need to do that. He could have avoided it,” he added.

The incident happened as MS Dhoni faced three dot balls in the final over bowled by Punjab Kings pacer Arshdeep Singh. On the third legal delivery of the over, the former India captain hit a shot towards the deep cover region and Mitchell did not waste much time to set off for a run.

MS Dhoni, however, appeared to be a bit reluctant to take the run and it resulted in Mitchell running back to the non-striker’s end. Dhoni’s refusal to take a single came under scrutiny after Chennai Super Kings conceded a defeat at the hands of Punjab Kings in that game earlier this week. Batting first, the reigning champions posted a formidable total of 162 at the loss of seven wickets. Chennai Super Kings skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad was the highest scorer (62 off 48 deliveries) of his side in that match.

MS Dhoni managed to score 14 runs off 11 balls against Punjab Kings. The World Cup-winning skipper was run out on the final ball of the Chennai Super Kings innings. With this, Dhoni was dismissed for the first time in the ongoing edition of the IPL.

The target did not prove to be a challenging one for Punjab Kings as they comfortably scored the winning runs with 13 balls to spare. Jonny Bairstow played a fine knock of 46 off 30 balls to guide Punjab Kings to a convincing seven-wicket win over the five-time champions.