MS Dhoni – who received a rousing reception at M Chinnaswamy like it was his home ground – led his team well as CSK held on to their nerves in the last-over thriller to earn a hard-fought win.
While he didn’t get to shine with the bat as he faced just a solitary ball in the game, he was spot-on as a captain. The wicketkeeper-batter was sharp behind the stumps and even took two brilliant catches to turn the game in his team’s favour.
With his wicketkeeping gloves on, Dhoni first took the catch of Glenn Maxwell (76) off Maheesh Theekshana’s bowling. He then took the catch of dangerous-looking RCB captain Faf du Plessis (62 off 33) to tilt the game in his team’s favour.
While the experts lauded the former India cricketer for his safe pair of hands and the way he took the catches under pressure, one of MS Dhoni’s appeals for stumping dismissal has come under scrutiny.
On the fourth of the 15th over of RCB’s innings, Dhoni dislodged the bails off Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling and appealed for Dinesh Karthik’s stumping. The on-field umpire went upstairs to check with the TV umpire.
The replays showed Karthik’s foot was grounded inside the crease and the batter was ruled not out to the delight of local fans. However, what the TV umpire Michael Gough seemed to ignore was that Dhoni actually collected the ball from before the stump line.
The replays showed that at the time of the collection of the ball, Dhoni’s gloves were protruding outside the stump line. Many fans took to Twitter to share the screengrab of the replay and spotted that the gloves were actually before the stump line.
In such a condition, the TV umpire should have signalled it as a No-Ball. Instead, the incident added yet another chapter in the poor umpiring howlers in the IPL.
Former India cricketer, Hemang Badani also raised his concerns and tweeted after the match, “Did anyone feel that that was a no-ball? Ball collection seemed like it was before the stump line #CSKvRCB #IPL2023.”
Did anyone feel that that was a no ball. Ball collection seemed like it was before the stump line #CSKvRCB #IPL2023
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) April 17, 2023
It did seem like a no ball
— Trisha Ghosal (@TrishaGhosal) April 17, 2023
No Ball💀
And Pathirana 4Th Over Me Ek Ball Under Arm Bhi Dala Uska Video Nahi Mila Mujhe💀😑 pic.twitter.com/V1mEzfU7ST
— Guri Pbks (@Guri_Pbks) April 17, 2023
No Ball 🙋🙄#CSKVSRCB pic.twitter.com/L4q05BfuL0
— Sandeep_Ogra45 (@Sandeep_Ogra56) April 17, 2023
