IPL 2019: Bruce Oxenford not offended by Dhoni storming onto the field

What's the story?

Umpire Bruce Oxenford helped MS Dhoni's cause in a meeting with the match referee after CSK's dramatic win against the Rajasthan Royals, saying that he was not offended by actions of the CSK captain.

In case you didn't know...

In the last over of the match between RR and CSK, MS Dhoni stormed onto the field to confront the umpires when a no-ball call was overturned.

It all happened when Ben Stokes missed his length, and main umpire Ulhas appeared to adjudge it as a no-ball before changing his mind. This created a major controversy which forced even MS Dhoni to lose his cool. The CSK captain stormed onto the field to advocate his team's cause.

The heart of the matter

Today, it emerged that the CSK captain was fined 50% of his match fee for his conduct. Some fans and cricketers thought that the punishment was lenient as they were expecting a suspension. A source, who knows about the developments behind the scenes, told IANS that Bruce Oxenford played a huge role in the final verdict.

There was a meeting in the room of the match referee, Prakash Bhatt, where Oxenford told the referee that he was not offended by Dhoni's actions. This statement from the umpire saved Dhoni from being handed a suspension.

“When all parties met in the match referee’s room after the game, Oxenford made it clear that he wasn’t offended by the CSK skipper’s act of walking onto the field and having a discussion about the no-ball being reversed,” the source said, as quoted by the Hindustan Times.

What's next?

MS Dhoni will be able to lead his team against KKR on Sunday. CSK have won six out of their first seven matches, and they would be hoping to continue this good run.