MS Dhoni, the legendary Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter came was heavily criticised by Irfan Pathan for refusing a single to Daryl Mitchell in his team’s recent loss to Punjab Kings in IPL 2024 on May 1st, 2024.
The incident happened during the last over CSK’s innings. In the final over, Mitchell sprinted for a single after Dhoni cut a low full toss from Arshdeep Singh into deep extra cover. He nearly made it to the striker’s end, but the former CSK captain stopped him, forcing him to return to the non-striker’s end.
Notably, Dhoni went on to hit a six on the second last ball of the over before finally getting dismissed for the first time in the ongoing season on the last ball of the innings for 14 (11) while Mitchell remained unbeaten on 1.
Some followers of the renowned cricket player are not happy with Dhoni since he refused to give his batting partner a single.
“Don’t do that in a team game” – Irfan Pathan on MS Dhoni not giving strike to Daryl Mitchell
One of those critics was former India and CSK player Irfan Pathan. Pathan was questioned about Dhoni’s knock, including his first six at Chepauk this season. The cricketer-turned-commentator questioned the former CSK captain’s choice to turn down a single while playing alongside Mitchell, pointing out that he could have done better.
“You will definitely talk about the six since MS Dhoni has a huge fan following. People love him a lot. However, the sort of knock he played, more was expected from him. He shouldn’t have done that (refusing a single). This is a team game.
“Don’t do that in a team game. The other guy is also an international player. If he had been a bowler, I would have understood it for sure. You have done that with (Ravindra) Jadeja and with Mitchell as well. You don’t need to do that. He could have avoided it,” Pathan said on Star Sports.
Irfan also praised Punjab Kings skipper Sam Curran for using Rahul Chahar in the 19th over to counter Dhoni.
“Curran getting a spinner to bowl the 19th over was a masterstroke because considering the form MS Dhoni is in, he could have taken the game way forward in those two overs. He could have scored 30 runs in two overs but they didn’t allow him to do that,” Pathan said.
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