24 May 2023 11:44 am
Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni appeared to bring play in their Indian Premier League Qualifier 1 match against the Gujarat Titans to a halt on Tuesday, buying his side a few minutes so that pace bowler Matheesha Pathirana would be eligible to bowl.
Ahead of the 16th over, Dhoni was seen in conversation with the umpires with Pathirana waiting to bowl, and it quickly became clear that the umpires were refusing the fast bowler from starting the over.
Pathirana had spent eight minutes out of play, and playing rules state that a bowler can start bowling only after spending the same amount of time on the field as he did off of it.
As he had been on the field for only four minutes, meaning that he was ineligible to bowler.
In a show of smart-thinking, or cunningness, Dhoni proceeded to engage in a conversation with umpires for four minutes, before time sufficiently elapsed to allow Pathirana to bowl again, and by extension be able to complete his four-over quota.
Reacting to the incident, Sunil Gavaskar said in the commentary box: “You accept the umpire's decision. Even if the umpire gets it wrong sometimes in high-pressure situations.”
For Gujarat, Vijay Shankar and Rashid Khan were at the crease when the incident took place.
The duo couldn't do much either.
"I think he (Pathirana) was out (of the field) for a bit and had little time to still make up. So I think the game slowed down there," Vijay Shankar said at the post-match presser.
"I don't know, I went there to get some gossip (laughs) but didn't get it," said Ruturaj Gaikwad, one of the CSK players surrounding Dhon.