Thought MS Dhoni Was Desperate: Ex-India Cricketer Makes Huge Claim On CSK Skipper's Tactic During Qualifier 1

ipl 2023 though ms dhoni was desperate: ex-india cricketer makes huge claim on csk skipper’s tactic during qualifier 1 vs gt

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni was involved in a huge controversy in the first qualifier of IPL 2023 against the Gujarat Titans on Tuesday, May 23 in Chennai when he was involved in a long argument with the umpires. The incident took place during the Titans’ batting innings when CSK pacer Matheesha Pathirana had left the field for some time. However, he wasn’t allowed to bowl as soon as he came back to the field and had to spend the same amount of time before being eligible to bowl. However, skipper Dhoni wasn’t happy with the call and asked the umpires what happened exactly.

When the umpires suggested that he could only bowl after four minutes, Dhoni decided to stretch the argument for that long and after the argument got over, Pathirana was eligible to bowl again. Dhoni was slammed by on-air commentators Sunil Gavaskar and Simon Doull for stalling the game and the CSK skipper also avoided a five-run penalty despite his tactic wasting a bit of time.

Now former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has made a huge claim saying that MS Dhoni seemed a bit desperate since there were two right-handers (Vijay Shankar and Rashid Khan) were bowling and he didn’t want to use maybe an off-spinner in Moeen Ali in such a crucial period.

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EXPLAINED: Why MS Dhoni Argued With Umpire During IPL 2023 Qualifier 1 Vs GT Leading To A 4-Minute Delay

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Speaking on ESPNCricinfo, Manjrekar said, “We don’t know exactly what happened. He was away for nine minutes, and (we don’t know) whether the time when they had conversation was counted or not. On the field, time is also counted when the game is actually played. Maybe, MS thought that it would work in his favour.

“I felt today, MS was desperate. He knew that the way Rashid Khan was playing, he had to give the ball to someone who he could believe in. It could be tactical,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

Rashid did play a quickfire cameo of 30 off 16, however, he was the lone man remaining as Titans fell short by 15 runs and will now face the Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier.