Has Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s transgression of questioning an umpiring decision, that too when he himself was not the recipient of the verdict, evoked enough condemnation? Has he been let off leniently because he is the superstar of Indian cricket? Shouldn’t there have been greater outrage among the players and critics alike? These are some of the questions that are being debated on social media in the aftermath of this disturbing episode.
Dhoni, who has this reputation of being as cool as a cucumber and is widely admired for keeping his emotions in check, no matter how bad a match situation may be for his team, is the last person you would expect to rush out to the field and castigate an umpire for a wrong decision. This must be, perhaps, the first time that a captain of a batting team, who is not on the field, has rushed from the dressing room to express his protest.
What prompted Dhoni to shed his image and behave like an errant messenger for his team? Was it because the changing of the no-ball decision by the umpire could have proved costly for his team? It could have been the difference between defeat and win, though his team eventually won. He did something which he has never done while leading India, even while being present on the field while the umpire may have gone wrong. He has always maintained his cool.
Here he was not even representing India, just a franchise team, that too in a tournament which is called a domestic league, despite best players across the cricketing globe playing in it. Virender Sehwag, who of late had gained in notoriety by tweeting on political issues, is the only strong Indian player voice, which has questioned Dhoni’s action and felt that the punishment was too lenient. He advocates a two to a three-match ban, instead of docking the player with just 50 per cent of his match fee.
Sehwag should be applauded for the stand he has taken as it requires a lot of courage in the India of today to speak against the authorities, especially if one happens to be a player of his stature. His saying that Dhoni did not protest in this manner while playing for India, suggests that Dhoni’s stake while playing for his franchise seems greater than while playing for India. Strong condemnation, though in these shorter versions, when the adrenaline is flowing with great speed, especially in the final overs, the possibility of a player crossing the line becomes greater. Hence there is a greater need to exercise caution and not let the rage destroy one’s calm.
One would not have been surprised had this ugly protest come from someone like Virat Kohli, who is temperamentally more prone to such deviant behaviour. Coming from Dhoni is a surprise and just goes to show that IPL makes even the most sane lose their sense of balance. Is it to do with the huge money the players earn, making them slaves of the team owners, which forces them to make a stronger show of loyalty towards their teams than they would for their country or state?
Or is it the new norm and anything that lends more thrill, drama and excitement to a tournament is acceptable, no matter how vulgar the action may be. Does the IPL condone such behaviour? If not then the punishment for what Dhoni did should have been severe.
The Indian Board and at present the court-appointed administrators are the custodians of this tournament and the least they can do now is to force Dhoni to publically apologise and not behave as if he has done nothing wrong. In a league, where Dhoni’s pay cheque would run into crores docking 50 per cent of his one-match fee is a joke.