MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: Jio Cinema)
The Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 featured a clash between the four-time champions Chennai Super Kings and the Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday, May 23.
Propelling Chennai to their 10th IPL final, skipper MS Dhoni was seen involved in an animated argument with the match umpires during the game. The incident occurred in the 15th over of the second innings, as Matheesha Pathirana, who came in to bowl the over, was deemed ineligible as he had been off the field for a while.
However, as Dhoni engaged in an animated discussion with the umpire, the threshold time had passed, and Pathirana was then allowed to bowl the over. Reflecting upon the same, former Australian cricketer Brad Hogg came forward to opine that the umpires laughing at the incident rather than solving it was not good enough.
“Dhoni using his presence to full effect, luring the umpires into a 4-minute discussion, causing time to run out for Pathirana to bowl after an extended break off the field. Umpires laughing over the incident rather than taking control of the situation is not good enough,” Brad Hogg tweeted.
Chennai Super Kings defeated Gujarat Titans by 15 runs
Talking of the game, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway’s knocks helped Chennai post 172 runs on the board. Gaikwad scored 60 runs in 44 balls, whereas Conway amassed 40 runs in 34 deliveries.
Coming in to chase the target down, only Shubman Gill could make an impact for Gujarat. The star Indian batter scored 42 runs in 38 deliveries, but the rest of the batting attack crumbled under the relentless pressure of Chennai’s bowling lineup.
Ravindra Jadeja terrorized the defending champions during the run chase, taking two wickets and conceding just 18 runs in four overs. Furthermore, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, and Deepak Chahar took two wickets each, with Tushar Deshpande striking once. Winning the game by 15 runs, Chennai Super Kings made it to the IPL 2023 finals, whereas Gujarat Titans made their way into the second qualifier.