Dhoni or umpires? Sunil Gavaskar shares his views on controversial argument during Qualifier

The controversy unfolded before the start of the 16th over in the second innings during Qualifier 1 between Gujarat Titans (GT) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), which has been a talking point since then. The matter has got the fuel, especially because it involved MS Dhoni.

Matheesha Pathirana, the ace death bowler of CSK, sat out for some minutes during the innings for some reasons. Hence, according to the rules, a player must spend the same amount of time on the field before being eligible to do his job again.

When MS Dhoni handed the ball to Matheesha Pathirana, the umpires intervened and told MS that the bowler hadn’t served the time yet. As a result, MS and the umpires were involved in a long discussion, and the game was halted for a good few minutes.

It was Dhoni’s tactic to waste time so that Pathirana could be eligible to bowl again, as he had three overs left in the game. While the umpires did understand the tactic of MS Dhoni, they didn’t try to restrict Dhoni from doing so, which is against the rules.

Sunil Gavaskar shares his views on the controversy

Several experts have opined their thoughts on the whole saga that transpired on the field in a high-octane clash between two teams in the competition. The legendary Sunil Gavaskar also shared his views, stating that the umpires were at fault for not giving a warning to the CSK captain MS Dhoni, which was well within the guidelines.

“I think we have been taught all the time to accept the umpire's decision. You can obviously ask for clarification, and that's what Dhoni was clearly doing, asking for clarification. My thinking is that rather than looking at what Dhoni did, you have to look at what the umpires did,” stated Gavaskar on India Today.

Also Read: WATCH: Ravindra Jadeja and Kasi Viswanathan involved in an intense chat amidst rift with MS Dhoni

Gavaskar also added that the umpires probably didn’t give a warning because of the stature of MS Dhoni.

“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.”

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