JAIPUR: The holy cows shall only be touched “softly, softly”. Indian sport’s craven diffidence before its big guns was on full display Thursday after Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni escaped a ban and was let off with a 50% fine on his match fee for an unprecedented confrontation with the on-field umpire during the IPL encounter against Rajasthan Royals here.
Dhoni, who was not even meant to be on the field of play, lost his cool and rushed out of the dug-out to challenge umpire Ulhas Gandhe after he flip-flopped on a no ball on Thursday night. Dhoni was seen angrily gesturing at Gandhe for backtracking after initially signalling a no ball.
“MS Dhoni, the Chennai Super Kings captain, was fined 50% of his match fees for breaching the VIVO Indian Premier League’s (IPL) Code of Conduct during his team’s match against Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur,” the BCCI stated.
As it is the case with IPL teams, it is the franchise that will pay the fine on the player’s behalf.
Contrast the light rap on the knuckles directed by the Indian cricket board at the superstar with how the LaLiga dealt with Atletico Madrid’s Diego Costa for an on-field fracas with referee Gil Manzano. The Atletico Madrid striker will miss the rest of the season after being handed an eight-match suspension by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Thursday.
Costa was sent off in the first half of Atletico’s 2-0 defeat to Barcelona on Saturday for directing a crude insult towards referee Gil Manzano. Manzano also reported that Costa had “grabbed” him by the arms during the incident.
Are we advocating a lengthy ban on similar lines? Certainly not. But there are rules of engagement that apply across sports in regards to players intimidating match officials and a team captain storming onto a pitch is certainly a maximum level offence. According to the ICC Code of Conduct, which governs the IPL, showing serious dissent at an umpire’s decision by words or action can lead to a maximum punishment of one-Test or two-ODI ban. Ergo Dhoni should have at the very least received a one-game ban.
What is equally deplorable is the collective white-washing of the gravity of the whole tawdry episode by the cricket fraternity.
“Dhoni got off lightly with only a fine after his pitch invasion last night. There are some things you NEVER do. And we must all hope (emphasis ours) that it never happens again,” Sambit Bal, editor-in-chief of ESPN Cricinfo tweeted.
That even the editor of arguably world cricket’s most respected cricket website was circumspect in refusing to categorically condemn Dhoni’s unsavoury behavior brings to mind how the cricket fraternity hung celebrated commentator Harsha Bhogle out to dry when he was unofficially declared persona non grata by the BCCI in 2016.
It is worth recalling that Bhogle was denied commentary duty for two full IPL seasons – 2016 and 2017. His crime: He drew the ire of Dhoni, India’s Captain Cool at the time, over his “unpatriotic” commentary during the ICC World T20 that was held a month ahead of world cricket’s biggest annual jamboree.
For the record, India (touted as favourites to win the tournament) were thrashed by the West Indies in the semi-finals of World T20 2016. The “favourites” had also lost the first match of the tournament to New Zealand at Nagpur by 47 runs.
Ultimately, it is on Twitter where some honest opinion is to be found on the unfortunate fracas that cricket fans across India witnessed on Thursday night.
Some samples:
Abhishek Mukherjee
✔
@ovshake42
#Dhoni could have written a scathing report after the match. In fact, team management reports typically decide the fate of umpires.
Instead, he chose to humiliate the umpires in public by challenging their authority.
He flexed his muscles because he could.#IPL2019 #RRvCSK
Aditya @forwardshortleg
Dhoni gets the ball replaced as many times he wants.
Dhoni gets a water break whenever he wants.
Dhoni gets the physio on the field whenever he wants.
Dhoni walks onto the field to argue with the umpires whenever he wants.
Umpires don’t have the guts to say NO to Dhoni.
Aakash Chopra
@cricketaakash
Umpiring standards have been pretty low in this #IPL and that was a no-ball given and reversed. Enough to feel crossed and miffed. But the opposition captain has no right to walk out on the pitch after being dismissed. Dhoni set a wrong precedent tonight. #RRvCSK #IPL
Ankit singh @Ankitthakur3499
#RRvCSK If Virat Kohli had intervened like Dhoni did during the match he would have been called A Spoiled Brat, Agressive BLOKE and What Not! #RRvCSK Double standards
Sanjay Manjrekar
@sanjaymanjrekar
Have always been a big Dhoni admirer, but he was clearly out of line walking out like that. Lucky to get away with just a small fine. #VIVOIPL
Amongst other things to quicken up the game, Injury time on the field must be restricted to a minute,anything over that player must be asked to leave the field.
Have felt this for a while now, players just bossing the game too much these days, often to the detriment of it.
Over rates, No day night Tests, just a couple of examples.
