Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been fined 10 per cent of his match fee by the match referee for inappropriate public comment in relation to an umpire’s decision.
Following CSK’s loss to Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League on Tuesday, Dhoni had pointed out in the post-match presentation that opener Dwayne Smith had fallen to a “horrible decision”.
“We lost momentum in the middle, and not to forget Smith got a horrible decision,” Dhoni said.
Following the comment, Dhoni was sanctioned “Mr. Dhoni admitted the level 1 offence (Article 2.1.7 of the IPL Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials) and accepted the sanction,” said a report on iplt20.com.
Opener Smith (0) received a rough decision from umpire Richard Illingworth off Lasith Malinga’s bowling. A full toss from Malinga went on to hit Smith on his front pad and the West Indian was adjudged LBW. However, replays showed that the ball would have gone down the leg side by a big margin.
CSK went on to lose the match by 25 runs as Mumbai Indians entered the final.
CSK will get a second chance to make it to the final via Qualifier 2 in Ranchi on May 22 where they will face winners of the Eliminator to be played on Wednesday between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
