[Watch] When MS Dhoni made Irfan Pathan sacrifice his wicket in a non-existent run in IPL 2016
The clip of Irfan Pathan sacrificing his wicket for MS Dhoni during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 went viral on Wednesday (May 1) on X.
The clip came to the fore after Dhoni came under fire for denying a single to Daryl Mitchell in the last over of Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) innings against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Wednesday.
On the third ball, Dhoni toe-ended the low full-toss to the deep extra-cover region and was interested in taking a run. Although Mitchell ran towards the striker's end, the 42-year-old screamed at him to return back, as he wanted a strike in the remaining two balls. The direct hit would have surely sent Mitchell packing, as he returned to the non-striker's end.
Certainly, Dhoni, who has been in form, believed in his ability to provide a strong finish to the CSK side. However, Dhoni's lack of faith in Mitchell's ball-striking irked the cricket fraternity and fans. In the last game, the Kiwi all-rounder slammed 52 off 32 balls.
Pathan criticized MS Dhoni in a chat with Star Sports and said:
"I am against this type of thing. Another player [Mitchell] has also come to play, He can also score runs. This is a team game."
"If he had been a bowler, I would have understood it for sure," Pathan added. "You have done that with (Ravindra) Jadeja and with Mitchell as well. You don’t need to do that. He could have avoided it."
Certainly, Irfan Pathan was reminded of Match 45 of IPL 2016 between the Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiants. In the 14th over of CSK's innings, Dhoni nudged Sunil Narine's delivery towards the point area and initially ran for a single.
However, the keeper-batter stopped in the middle amid confusion and instead forced Pathan to sacrifice for him. As a result, the all-rounder was run out for seven off eight balls.
Although MS Dhoni hit a six in the penultimate delivery, he was run out on the last ball of the innings against Punjab.
MS Dhoni's CSK fall to Punjab Kings at Chepauk
After being invited to bat first, Chennai Super Kings got a major contribution from Ruturak Gaikwad (62) as they posted a modest total of 162 on the board. For the visitors, the talented spin duo Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar scalped two wickets apiece.
Thereafter, Jonny Bairstow (46) joined forces with Rilee Rossouw (43) to lead Punjab's clinical effort to seal the game under 18 overs.