MS Dhoni declined an easy single during the third ball of the final over of CSK’s innings. When Arshdeep Singh bowled a low full toss outside off, Dhoni sliced it off the toe end. Though the ball landed safely in front of the long off fielder, Daryl Mitchell at the non-striker’s end had already taken off and was nearly at the striker’s end, but Dhoni declined to run and stayed put in a surprising move.
Mitchell returned to the non-strikers’ end after Dhoni made no move for the run. Although Mitchell ran two lengths of the pitch, CSK was not awarded any runs since Dhoni had no intention to leave the striker’s end.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan slammed Dhoni’s decision to deny Daryl Mitchell a single while batting. During his interview with Star Sports, Pathan was asked for his opinion on Dhoni’s innings. He argued that Dhoni should have taken the single, since Mitchell is also an international player. Pathan questioned Dhoni’s call not to rotate the strike in that situation.
“While MS Dhoni has a massive fan following and is widely beloved, his performance fell short of expectations given the type of knock he played” Pathan stated.
“Cricket is a team game, so you should not refuse runs for the team. The other batsman is also an international player. Refusing a run would be more understandable if it had been with a tailender. You have refused runs previously with Jadeja and Mitchell. There is no justification for refusing runs here. He should’ve taken the single,” he claimed.
MS Dhoni was dismissed on the final ball of the innings for 14 runs from 11 balls, hitting one four and one six during his brief cameo. This marked Dhoni’s first dismissal in IPL 2024.
CSK will again face PBKS in a reverse fixture on May 5 at Dharamsala.
