Former India all-rounder and commentator Irfan Pathan criticized MS Dhoni’s decision-making during the 49th match of the ongoing IPL 2024 Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Pathan was not happy with Dhoni’s refusal to play a single with Daryl Mitchell against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Wednesday, May 1. The former World Cup winner admitted that Dhoni has a huge fan base so he felt that given the former India skipper’s abilities, more was expected from him in this situation for Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
The cricket commentator also highlighted the importance of teamwork in cricket and stated that such decisions should not be made in a team sport. He criticized Dhoni’s selfish behavior of staying at the crease by refusing to go for a single with the star all-rounder and eventually winning him run out for 14 off 11 balls.
Irfan Pathan criticized MS Dhoni for his selfish act
Pathan stressed that New Zealander Mitchell was also an international level cricketer and deserved equal opportunities and recalled similar instances where Dhoni did the same with star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja despite both stars being among the greatest batsmen in the world.
The former India all-rounder feels that Dhoni could have avoided turning down the individual player, especially given the need to support his teammates and their ability to hit the ball. He stressed that such measures were unnecessary after CSK suffered a wicket defeat against PBKS on Wednesday. Notably, Dhoni hit his first six at the Chepauk Stadium on Wednesday.
Irfan Pathan said on Star Sports: “They will definitely talk about the six as MS Dhoni has a huge fan following. People love him very much. However, one would have expected more from the kind of shot he played. He shouldn’t have done that (refuse once). This is a team game.”
“Don’t do this in a team game. The other is also an international player. If he had been a bowler I would have certainly understood. You did that with (Ravindra) Jadeja and also with Mitchell. “You don’t have to do that. He could have avoided it.”
Irfan Pathan praises Sam Curran’s captaincy
At the end, Pathan also praised the stand-in skipper of PBKS Sam Currans strategic decision to bring in spinner Rahul Chahar to bowl the 19th over in the IPL 2024 clash in Chennai.
Pathan called this move a trump card, especially given the impressive form of Dhoni, who was able to take the game away from PBKS in these two overs.
Pathan suggested that Dhoni had the potential to score around 30 runs in these two overs alone, which could have shifted the momentum in CSK’s favor.
However, by introducing Chahar, PBKS prevented Dhoni from capitalizing on his batting power at this crucial stage of the game and the defending champions could only post 162/7 on the board.
PBKS easily chased the target with 13 balls remaining and 7 wickets in hand, handing CSK their fourth defeat in the ongoing IPL 2024.
However, CSK remained in third place in the table for the time being. On the other hand, PBKS is in seventh place with 8 points from 10 games.