Umpire Paul Reiffel Saw MS Dhoni And Changed His Mind: Ian Bishop

MS Dhoni sparked a controversy in the match between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) which has got the cricketing folklore talking. CSK captain Dhoni has been widely criticised for his gesture which seemingly led to the on-field umpire change his original decision in the 19th over.

In the 19th over (18.2) of the SRH innings, fast bowler Shardul Thakul bowled a yorker which pitched clearly outside the tramline. On-field umpire Paul Reiffel was about to stretch his hands to signal a wide but he changed his decision after an agitated gesture from Dhoni behind the stumps.

I’m going to say that Paul Reiffel made a mistake: Ian Bishop

Deep Dasgupta and Ian Bishop, a part of the IPL commentary panel, weighed in on the controversy and said that Paul Reiffel was going for that wide but he changes his decision after the MS Dhoni Gesture. Bishop also mentioned that it was a mistake made by the umpire as he should’ve called it a wide.

“Paul Reiffel was going for that, for the wide, but then something happened and changed his mind. He was halfway there, he was almost there but then he changed his mind and what intrigued me was he got on a 2-way thing with the third umpire as well,” Deep Dasgupta said about the Dubai controversy.

“I’m someone who is very sympathetic to the umpires because I think it’s a difficult job but tonight I’m going to say that Paul Reiffel made a mistake. He looked up, it was a wide, it should’ve been called a wide. He looked up, saw Dhoni and changed his mind,” Bishop opined.

“I don’t know whether intimidation is the right word here, I think it’s too strong a word. But you kind of have a second thought about it. His [umpire’s] initial reaction was a wide and we saw that since it was outside the tramline, we saw that and we did see the umpire change his mind. For whatever reason, MS Dhoni did change his mind,” Dasgupta added.

All the success had made him one of the most influential person on the cricketing circuit but he was not the same when he was first introduced to the national team. Besides that, MS Dhoni has also been the go-to man for his teammates whenever he was on the field.

Dhoni understands the game well. He knew the strength of the side and backs his players accordingly. He did not takes any kind of frivolous decisions and likes to maintain his calm. It is due to these qualities Dhoni came up as one of the most calm and composed character on the cricket field.