PBKS vs CSK: Aakash Chopra slams MS Dhoni for the first time for denying Daryl Mitchell a single

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has slammed former CSK captain MS Dhoni for what the latter did last night during Chennai's home game against Punjab Kings.

MS Dhoni landed into hot water last night at the MA Chidambaram stadium for keeping his self-desire above the needs of the team. It is happening perhaps for the first time in this IPL season that almost every cricket pundit, including Aakash Chopra, is saying things against Dhoni.

What happened between MS Dhoni and Daryl Mitchell?

After losing the toss, the Chennai Super Kings were asked to bat first by Punjab Kings skipper Sam Curran at the yellow jersey-filled Chepauk stadium. The home team had got off to a very good start as Ajinkya Rahane and Ruturaj Gaikwad had maintained a decent run rate in the powerplay overs before Rahane's departure.

And since that wicket fell, CSK started to lose the momentum they had gained in the powerplay as the reliable Shivam Dube registered a golden duck. Ravindra Jadeja, who has been appearing at number 4, scored just 2 runs off 4. Chennai then made a controversial decision of sending in Sameer Rizvi as the Impact player despite having power hitter Daryl Mitchell on their side.

Rizvi failed to cause an impact whatsoever as he was shown the exit door by Kagiso Rabada for a score of 21 off 23. Then Mooen Ali was next in the departing order. He was clean bowled by leg-spinner Rahul Chahar for 15 off 9 and Daryl Mitchell, who should have walked in much more earlier, was sent to bat at number 8 with MS Dhoni.

But the duo could not do anything special as only 15 runs were added to the board since Moeen Ali's departure in the 4th ball of the 18th over. While MS Dhoni faced 11 balls, Daryl Mitchell only faced one ball at the back end of the innings.

And the incident that triggered many expert pundits to slam MS Dhoni, happened in the 3rd ball of the 20th over. Dhoni had the chance of rotating the strike to Mitchell but instead of doing so, the former CSK skipper sent the Kiwi back to the other end.

Daryl Mitchell had reached the striker's end but upon MS Dhoni's refusal on his face, the former had no option but to run back for his life. It was almost as if Mitchell completed 2 runs and for that reason, MSD landed in hot waters.

What did Aakash Chopra say on the matter?

While speaking on his latest YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra did not support MS Dhoni for refusing to rotate the strike. Chopra reminded Dhoni that he was not batting along with a tailender like Mustafizur Rahman and he was batting with a top-order batsman Daryl Mitchell.

Aakash Chopra felt that it was not a fair move by Dhoni, whose runs in the 19th over eventually proved to be very less.

"In the end, Dhoni even refused to take a single. It's fine but Daryl Mitchell is Daryl Mitchell. You were not batting with Mustafizur, no disrespect, but he refused. He hit a six but the runs were never going to be enough, and that's exactly how it panned out." - Aakash Chopra said on his latest YT video.