Kolkata: A bit of banter from MS Dhoni has lead to him paying quite a hefty price!
The Wicket-keeper batsman of Rising Pune Supergiants, Dhoni has had to pay a fine for jokingly signalling for a review as South African spinner Imran Tahir hit the pads of Mumbai Indians batsman Kieron Pollard during the second game of this seasons IPL in Pune.
The match referee of many games, Nayyar didn’t take it in the spirit Dhoni wanted him to, resulting in him considering it to be offensive, resulting the former Indian skipper getting reprimanded for breaching the Indian Premier League (IPL) Code of Conduct.
According to a statement issued by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) , Dhoni admitted to the Level 1 offence (Article 2.1.1) for conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game. It further said that in case of Level 1 breaches of the IPL Code of Conduct, the match referee’s decision is final and binding.
While it wasn’t categorically mentioned clearly as to why Dhoni had been reprimanded, the incident involving Dhoni signaling for the use of the Decision Review System (DRS) could be the only logical explanation. While the spectators and commentators had a laugh at the same, the match referee Manu Nayyar did not find it in the spirit of the game.
Pollard was batting on 6 while the incident took place, in which Pollard missed the ball which resulted in the ball hitting the pad, the umpire though felt that the ball hit the bat first and then the pad. Pollard survived through the decision as the game carried on and Imran Tahir went back to his bowling mark. This is when the former Indian and Chennai Super Kings captain M.S Dhoni signaled for the review jokingly.
(With inputs from News18)