MS Dhoni doesn't respect 'Spirit of Cricket', alleges former umpire Daryl Harper

Former Australian umpire Daryl Harper has slammed MS Dhoni for wasting on-field umpires' time in Qualifier 1 vs GT.

Former Australian umpire Daryl Harper has accused Chennai Super Kings (CSK) of not respecting the spirit of cricket while arguing with the umpires during Qualifier 1 of IPL 2023 against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Chennai on May 23, 2023.

CSK bowler Matheesha Pathirana left the field for nine minutes, but Dhoni required him to bowl after the 16th over of the GT innings. According to cricket rules, every player who is off the pitch for more than eight minutes must return to the pitch for the same length of time before bowling.

However, Dhoni needed to bowl Pathirana just five minutes after the Sri Lankan bowler arrived, so he engaged in a four-minute discussion to pass the time. As a result, Pathirana was able to bowl the 16th over and complete his four-over quota.

This didn’t sit well with some people who said this was not in the spirit of cricket as Dhoni wasted time in order to get what he wanted, while some lauded him for his ingenuity to get his premier bowler to bowl as per his plans.

Maybe some people are bigger than the law: Daryl Harper on MS Dhoni’s time-wasting tactics

Former Australian umpire Daryl Harper believes the CSK captain wasted time on purpose to tick the clock so that Pathirana could bowl the full quota of his overs.

Harper was famous for giving Sachin Tendulkar a shoulder before the wicket during the 1999 Test between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval, for which he was vilified by the fans and experts alike, though he has said that he is "extremely proud" of his controversial decision.

"Of course MS Dhoni wasted time to allow his preferred bowling option to deliver the vital sixteenth over. That's the only conclusion that I can draw from that disappointing spectacle. The issue for me is the lack of respect shown for the Spirit of cricket and for the directions of the umpires. There were other options for the captain but they were ignored.

Maybe some people are bigger than the law or in this case the Spirit of cricket. It's always disappointing to see the lengths that some people will go to in order to win," the Australian umpire told Mid-day.

The former umpire also brought up an event that happened during a Test match between India and South Africa. Sachin Tendulkar was unable to bat due to the time limit, and his immediate replacement, VVS Laxman, was having a shower unaware of the restriction. As a result, Sourav Ganguly had to put on his gloves and pads right away in order to bat.

Harper claims that the caliber of cricket was different back then when India skipper Rahul Dravid was at the non-striker end.