IPL 2023 | Did MS Dhoni make a Blunder against RCB?

image-lgm8iiknMS Dhoni trying to take a catch against RCB (AP Photo)

The IPL 2023 is dishing out one thriller after another and the game 24 of the season between RCB and CSK was no different. MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli were up against each other and the atmosphere at the M. Chinnaswamy was electrifying to say the least. There were some huge sixes along the way as CSK posted a mammoth 227 runs on the board with Conway and Dube smashing it all around the park.

In reply, RCB also found heroes in the form of Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell and the game went right down to the wire. However, an interesting event happened when RCB needed 59 off 32 balls with Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed on the crease. Ravindra Jadeja was the bowler and he bowled a beautifully tossed up delivery to Karthik that beat DK off the front foot as he tried to drive. MSD behind the stumps was quick to collect the ball and whip the bails off as he went up for a stumping appeal. Though the replays showed that DK's foot was grounded.

image-lgm8e2vpMS Dhoni trying to stump Dinesh Karthik in RCB-CSK game (Source: Twitter)

The match went on and it was CSK that ended up winning the game by 8 runs but just after the match, videos and photos of MSD's stumping started flashing all around social media. It was evident from those photos and videos that MSD collected the ball for the DK's stumping ahead of the stumps which according to cricket rules, is illegal. According to the rules, if a keeper collects the ball ahead of the stumps, then it is a NO BALL. However, umpires during the RCB-CSK game could not spot that error. To be fair, it was a pretty close call and one cannot fault umpires for it but if they would have spotted that error, you never know, the result of the game could have been different as it was quite even-stevens at that time.

An extra ball and a Free Hit could have changed the momentum of the game but in sports, these things are bound to happen every now and then. However, what is more interesting is to see MS Dhoni making a mistake behind the stumps as the man has been absolutely top-notch with his skills and presence of mind for the most part of his career.