Ian Bell's Run-Out: When Dhoni Showed the World the Right Way to Play Cricket

Bell walked back to the pavilion after being given runout in a bizzare fashion , but soon returned after tea when MS Dhoni decided to withdraw his appeal

India’s captain MS Dhoni made a very strong statement to the cricketing fraternity and showed the world the right spirit to play the gentlemen’s game of cricket, after he withdrew the run out appeal against Ian Bell, choosing to call him back after tea.

It was the last ball of the 66^th over of England’s innings, the last ball before tea. Morgan flicked Ishant Sharma to deep square leg, where Praveen made a comical attempt at saving the ball but managed to cut it off, although he himself wasn’t sure and gave the impression to everyone that the ball had touched the boundary rope. The Indian fielders thought it was a four but it wasn’t. The England batsmen thought it was a four and by the time the throw came back in, Bell was out ofhis crease and was walking back to the pavilion thinking it was tea. By then, the Indian fielders dislodged the bails and appealed for a run out.

Ian Bell was infuriated and insisted that umpire Asad Rauf had ‘called over’, but it was not called over yet as Rauf handed back Ishant’s jumper AFTER the bails were dislodged. Amidst great drama, the third umpire declared Ian Bell run out. The Trent Bridge crowd booed the Indian team as the players headed back to the pavilion for tea.

During the tea interval, the two umpires asked MS Dhoni whether he wanted to withdraw the appeal retrospectively. MS obliged, keeping in mind the spirit of the game. The decision was overturned and Bell walked back in after tea along with Morgan. The crowd stopped booing and began to cheer the Indian captain for his brave decision. MS Dhoni had suddenly become a hero. It was one of the finest gestures by any captain in the game of cricket.

Bell’s wicket would have opened the gates for an Indian recovery, but MS Dhoni’s decision showed the world that playing the game in the right spirit was more important to him than winning. Strange things have happened in the game of cricket and what happened during that Trent Bridge afternoon was no different. MSD proved that his team is not only the number one side in the world, but also would never do something which puts down the ‘spirit’ of cricket. It was a moment where the spirit of the game won!!

<a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/5316873/”>Did MS Dhoni do the right thing by withdrawing the run-out appeal against Ian Bell?</a>