3 most controversial moments during MS Dhoni's captaincy
Cricket
MS Dhoni and debutant Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman were involved in an ugly collision during the first ODI of the India-Bangladesh series in Mirpur in June 2015. The incident occurred during the 25th over of India's innings as they were chasing 308.
When MS Dhoni 'pushed' Mustafizur Rahman
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Dhoni took off for a single after placing the ball towards mid-off. Left-armer Mustafizur, who was bowing from over the wicket, seemed to have glanced at the batsman and moved towards the path on which Dhoni was running. As a result, Dhoni ended up running into Mustafizur and appeared to shove the bowler out of the way with his forearm. Mustafizur left the field for treatment.
Mustafizur, however, returned to claim a five-for and bowled Bangladesh to victory by 79 runs. Post the game, Dhoni was fined 75% of his match fee and Mustafizur 50% by match referee Andy Pycroft. It was a forgettable series for Dhoni as India went on to lose the three-match series 1-2 - their first series loss to Bangladesh.
After India's exit from the 2016 T20 World Cup, Dhoni was asked the obvious question about his international future by an Australian scribe. Rather uncharacteristically, Dhoni appeared to lose his cool and ‘invited’ the journalist to sit next to him.
The infamous press conference
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He then had an interaction with the journalist. As the journalist walked back, Dhoni told him that he had ‘fired the wrong ammunition at the wrong time’. The journalist later shared his views about the bizarre interaction with the Indian captain.
Sharing his views on the controversy, the journalist Samuel Ferris wrote in a column for cricket.com.au that he had asked a pretty standard question and there was no reason for Dhoni to get ruffled. While some felt Dhoni was just having some fun, his conduct was questioned by others.
Despite having three top ODI players in Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, captain Dhoni decided that they would not play together and would be rotated during the 2012 CB series in Australia. The move proved to be a major disaster as India won just three of the eight matches and failed to qualify for the best-of-three finals.
Dhoni’s bizarre rotation policy during 2012 CB Series
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After a defeat against Australia during the series, Dhoni had stated that the three senior openers were not being picked together because "they are slow and could be costing the side at least 20 runs." Sehwag, however, later took a dig at Dhoni and retorted during a media interaction.
In 2019, Gambhir slammed Dhoni over the rotation policy. During the tri-series, Gambhir scored 91 and 92 in consecutive matches and was still made to sit out of the next game. In hindsight, it was a needless controversy that could have been avoided with better coordination among team members.