'MS Dhoni apologised straightaway for walking out to confront umpires,' says Mitchell Santner
Chennai Super Kings spin-bowling all-rounder Mitchell Santner has said that captain MS Dhoni apologised straightaway after making his way out onto the field in an IPL 2019 match.
The incident happened during CSK's match against the Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur in IPL 2019. With eight runs needed to get in three deliveries, Stokes' dipping full toss to Santner was signalled a no-ball.
However, umpire Ulhas Gandhe overturned the decision. This made Ravindra Jadeja get into a heated argument with the umpire, and eventually, a visibly miffed MS Dhoni walked out onto the pitch amid all the confusion.
MS Dhoni's sudden appearance on the pitch was deemed unnecessary by cricketing pundits. The CSK skipper was found guilty of breaching the IPL Code of Conduct, and was fined 50% of his match fee. Santner shed some light on the incident, and remarked that MS Dhoni apologised to the umpire then and there.
Speaking in an Instagram Live session with the official CSK handle, Mitchell Santner talked about the infamous match. He said:
"A little bit (talk after the game). I was out there. I obviously saw him out there. He was right next to the umpire. Obviously he knew he was not allowed to do that. He apologised straightaway. It might have flustered Stokes and gave me a good ball to hit. I am happy."
'MS Dhoni goes about his business in a calm manner'
Mitchell Santner also expressed his happiness at getting the opportunity to play alongside the calm persona of MS Dhoni. He listed his experiences of learning from the great man, despite being on the opposite side while representing their national teams.
"When you play with guys who've played against, they look different. You get to understand them more. l always wanted to play with guys like Dhoni. Playing for New Zealand, I have played India a lot, home and away. Just the way he kind of goes about his business is calm and relaxed. I obviously tried to do something similar. And then you get to speak to those guys, it's all such a good learning space for growing your game."
