Known for his calm demeanour, MS Dhoni once lost his composure in an IPL match, which he felt was a big mistake
India has had some of the greatest cricket captains in the world, and among the long list, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is often regarded as the best. The former Indian and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper is also hailed as "Captain Cool" because of his calm demeanour.
In fact, in his 15 years of career as an international player, he was rarely caught losing his patience. However, there have been one or two instances where Dhoni, like every other human, lost his temper and let emotions control his actions.
One such incident happened in 2019 when Dhoni was Chennai's captain. In one of the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches, he did something nobody saw coming from Captain Cool—an incident he later termed his big mistake.
In 2019, Rajasthan Royals (RR) and CSK clashed in the 25th game of the IPL. Batting first, RR had put a score of 151 runs on the board in 20 overs.
The second innings saw CSK taking the crease to chase the target. However, the situation quickly turned tricky as the Yellow Army lost the top order without many runs on the board.
In the middle order, skipper Dhoni scored 58 runs off 43 balls, whereas Ambati Rayudu also supported him with 57 runs. However, both the settled batters left the crease without finishing the game.
CSK had lost six wickets but required eight runs in the last over with Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner on the crease – both unsettled and under pressure against the mighty spells of Ben Stokes.
In the last over of the game, three balls remained, as CSK needed eight. Stokes threw a spell to Santner that landed above his waistline, and naturally, one of the umpires called it a no-ball. However, umpire Ulhas Gandhe reversed the decision.
The incident frustrated Dhoni, who was on the sideline as Jadeja and Santner got into an argument with the umpires and RR players. An angry Dhoni stormed onto the field and had an intense argument with Ulhas Gandhe until Bruce Oxenford calmed him down and sent him back to the dugout.
After the chaos, Santner finished the match in style, scoring 10 runs in three overs to give CSK a victory.
Six years later, before the IPL 2025 season started, Dhoni, during a chat with Mandira Bedi, called the incident a "big mistake."
In the chat hosted by Mastercard, Dhoni said, "It happened in one of the IPL games, when I just walked on the field. That was a big mistake. But, other than that also, there have been instances where something gets triggered. That's why I said that when you're slightly angry or frustrated, keep your mouth shut. Get away from it for a while, try taking deeper breaths."
Dhoni is no longer the captain of CSK but is yet to hang up his IPL jersey as he continues to bat for the team in the middle order.
