Chennai Super Kings MS Dhoni faces the heat for their conduct during the just concluded matchup against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The game ended on a controversial note with referee Paul Reiffel surprisingly not calling a wide delivery even though he was on the tram line.
The incident took place on the 19th day of the SRH manhunt when the party was well prepared. After collecting 19 runs from the 18th, SRH had scored three from the first ball on the 19th when they needed 27 runs from the final two overs. The first ball of the over was hit by a two by Rashid Khan before Shardul Thakur hit a wide.
The next installment seemed wide too, but Reiffel didn’t call her. At first, it seemed like he would call it wide since his hands were half spread out. However, he changed his mind at the last minute after seeing an angry outcry from MS Dhoni and decided not to call it broad. In fact, MS Dhoni was acting upbeat and had a role in the referee’s decision.
But in the end, CSK won the match comfortably. The three-time champions defeated SRH by 20 runs to get back on the winning track and end their two-game losing streak. The victory was CSK’s third of the season. With three wins in eight games, they are currently in sixth place.
Batting first, they were 167 of 6 in the 20 assigned overs. Shane Watson was the best scorer for them with 42, while Ambati Rayudu scored 41. In response, SRH finished their innings with 147 of 8. Kane Williamson scored fifty fight, but the lack of support from the other end meant that his blow was in vain.
Fans furious with MS Dhoni:
MS Dhoni may be happy with the result, but the fans are not at all happy with their behavior in the match. Shortly after the game ended, fans took to Twitter to criticize him for the way he performed on the 19th and that caused the referee to change his mind. Some fans even went so far as to say that MS Dhoni intimidated the referee.
These are some of the reactions:
The so-called referee harassment of legend as always. Banning this franchise forever, in my opinion, it doesn’t deserve to play at all 😠# IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/qv9dUuaAEQ
– Vardhan. (@VardhanXP) October 13, 2020
2019 – MS Dhoni withdraws to discuss with the referees.
2020 – MS Dhoni gives a glance and the referee drops his hands.Thala and the referees: you can write a book about it. https://t.co/tbgrVOFw5e
– Siddarth Srinivas (@sidhuwrites) October 13, 2020
I don’t know about the referee, but MS surely intimidated the entire league for over a decade.
– Heisenberg☢ (@internetumpire) October 13, 2020
That was not cricket from @msdhoni , you can’t pressure the referee like that and also the referee should have gone with his decision, dhoni is no bigger than the game of cricket. Last year he came from outside to force the referee not to give him the ball, now he is forced not to give him a pass
– Hemant Gulia (@HemantGulia) October 13, 2020
The answer clearly showed that the referee was going to call wide, then MS’s reaction came and stopped him. pic.twitter.com/3ChKRV7dmC
– Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 13, 2020
Assault the field of play when the referee does something wrong. Look at the referee angrily when he is about to do something right.
– The Joker 🃏 (@ Joker122018) October 13, 2020
There is no point blaming the Indian referees alone if Paul Reiffel, an elite referee, a former world cup winner with 127 international matches changes his mind when he sees that Dhoni is angry. Weak refereeing. #CSKvSRH # IPL2020
– Raunak Kapoor (@RaunakRK) October 13, 2020
Dhoni when the referee was about to give that ball ‘Wide’.
#CSKvsSRH pic.twitter.com/1DNHM421HY– तूफ़ान का देवताᵀʰᵒʳ 🚩 (@iStormbreaker_) October 13, 2020
#Referee embarrassing and not in the spirit of the game pic.twitter.com/xtCvblPkBs
– Amitk (@Indrabeing) October 13, 2020
Timely reminder that Kane Williamson did not argue with the referee in the WC final 🙏
– Pooran❤ ^ infinite (@Ohyessabhi) October 13, 2020