Explanation: Was MS Dhoni at fault for wasting time bowling to Mathisha Pathirana during Qualifier 1 vs GT

Ever since Chennai Super Kings (CSK) beat Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2023 Qualifier 1 on Tuesday, fans are divided over MS Dhoni’s strategy to delay the resumption of play so that experts under stress He should die on bowling. Follow. Still nobody knows whether it was Dhoni’s strategy or not. Although social media sees it that way. While a section of fans and experts called it a strategy, praising Dhoni’s brilliance in ensuring that his team crosses the finish line. On the other hand, critics are criticizing him for using unfair means to win the game.

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What is the matter?

Need 71 runs in the last 30 balls to win Dhoni Pathirana, who was briefly off the field, was called in to bowl the 16th over of the innings. Pathirana had walked off the field shortly after bowling the 12th over and it was a little over four minutes after he returned when Dhoni asked him to bowl the 16th over. On his way to the run-up, umpire Anil Chowdhary, standing at the non-striker’s end, stopped Pathirana to have a discussion. A confused Dhoni went to the square leg umpire to understand the matter. The umpires told Dhoni that they could not allow Pathirana to bowl as he needed to spend four more minutes on the field to do so.

The IPL playing conditions say that when a player leaves the field for more than eight minutes due to injury or any other reason, he has to stay on the field for the same period before being allowed to bowl. The commentators also talked about this rule on air.

Pathirana was out for 4 minutes and as per the rule if you are a bowler and you are out for 4 minutes, you have to be on the ground for 4 minutes before you can bowl.

Guess what Dhoni did for the next 4 minutes__ pic.twitter.com/n6KUfRhpjv— _________ (@SergioCSKK) May 24, 2023

What did Dhoni say to the umpires?

Dhoni argued that he was helpless as he had no option but to bowl Pathirana in the 16th over. According to ESPNcricinfo, Dhoni told the umpires that his other best options – Ravindra Jadeja, Mahesh Tixhana, Deepak Chahar – had completed their quota of overs and that he would bowl off-spinner Moeen Ali against GT’s two right-handed batsmen. Can’t afford to give. Middle. Moeen had not bowled a single over till this time.

The argument went on and eventually the remaining four minutes for Pathirana to spend on the field were over. The CSK pacer finally bowled the 16th over. Chennai won the match by 15 runs.

Umpires could have fined CSK

Umpires could have considered penalizing CSK as per law. While the umpires did not allow CSK to field five players outside the 30-yard circle for the 20th over, CSK were not harmed by the financial penalty. As per Law 41.9, the umpires may issue a warning to the fielding captain if his team is seen to be deliberately wasting time. If the same side repeats the offence, the umpires may award five runs to the batting side. CSK survived this penalty as well.