Mahendra Singh <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/cricket-news/afghanistan-cricketer-rahmanullah-gurbaz-expresses-desire-to-play-with-ms-dhoni/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dhoni</a>, arguably one of the best captains of all time in world cricket has won every possible trophy for the teams he has represented. Synonymous with the term ‘cool’, Dhoni often maintains a down-to-earth conduct on the field but has at times been at the centre of controversy.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>

During his professional career, the Ranchi-born cricketer established himself as a clinical finisher with the bat and single-handedly won games for his sides. It was his ability to hold his nerve during the crunch moments and make tough calls on the field as skipper and score vital runs as a batter that made him an astute player.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>

Not every other skipper is fortunate enough to get compared to the likes of Clive Lloyd, Ricky Ponting among others. However, MS Dhoni was often compared to the aforementioned greats as under him the Men in Blue clinched the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>

If you are one of the most popular faces in the sports industry, it is nearly impossible to stay away from the media and get away with controversies. India’s most successful skipper too found himself in a spot of bother at times. In this piece, we take a look at the top five instances when controversial statements were made against the former India skipper.<o:p></o:p>

Five controversial statements made against MS Dhoni<o:p></o:p>

5. Sreesanth’s father accused Dhoni for spoiling pacer’s reputation<o:p></o:p>

The Kerala-born cricketer shared an unusual chemistry with the former India skipper during his stint with the national side. In 2013, when the pacer was found involved in the spot-fixing scandal, Sreesanth’s father- Shantakumaran Nair alleged that it was Dhoni and spinner Harbhajan Singh who had implicated his son in the same.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>

"Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh had been involved in controversies (with Sreesanth) in the past. Dhoni, the captain, had threatened that Sreesanth would not be in the Indian team. Both have this enmity towards Sreesanth. He (Sreesanth) has been longing to return to the Indian team. He would not deliberately get involved in such an act when he wanted to return to the Indian team,” told Nair as quoted by the Indian Express.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>

However, the pacer’s father issued an apology later and stated that he made the initial comments in the heat of the moment due to an emotional outburst. Despite the controversial statements made against the former India skipper, Dhoni decided not to respond to the allegations.

4. Rashid Latif’s ‘high dropping percentage’ statement&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>

Dhoni was known for his lightning speed behind the stumps and quick thinking and won India crucial matches. The keeper in the ODIs claimed 321 catches and 123 stumpings in 350 matches, similarly, in the red-ball format, he bagged 256 catches, 38 stumpings in 166 innings. Dhoni tops the charts in the T20Is as he claimed 57 catches and 34 stumpings in 98 outings.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>

However, despite all the records etched in history as a keeper, Pakistan's former wicket-keeper batter Rashid Latif was unimpressed with Dhoni’s wicket-keeping skills. “Dhoni was a batsman-wicketkeeper. Obviously, Dhoni is a very big name. But if I go into stats, his dropping percentage is 21 per cent, which is huge, huge,” the former Pakistan cricketer was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.<o:p></o:p>

Despite the claims made by the former Pakistan cricketer, Dhoni has time and again proven his razor-sharp quality behind the stumps.

3. Accused of Conflict of Interest (Rhiti Sports Management)<o:p></o:p>

The <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/cricket-news/csk-team-2023-player-list-complete-chennai-super-kings-csk-squad-and-players-list-for-ipl-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chennai Super Kings</a> (CSK) skipper in 2015 was accused of alleged conflict of interest involving Rhiti Sports Management. The mentioned company manages his commercial interests as well as the same of his fellow CSK mates Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja.<o:p></o:p>

The controversy sparked when it was alleged that Dhoni owned 15% of the shares at Rhiti. This essentially meant that Dhoni could also take a part from the earnings of Raina and Jadeja. Former India cricketer Kirti Azad had claimed that certain documents confirmed the former India skipper’s involvement.&nbsp;&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>

“Obviously, the documents that have come out indicate that it has been a conflict of interest as far as Dhoni’s involvement with Rhiti Sports is concerned,” Kirti Azad was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;However, the business later confirmed that the keeper was not a shareholder at the time of the deals and it brought a lot of clarity.

2. Accused of batting at an underwhelming rate in the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final<o:p></o:p>

Team India suffered an exit from the ODI Cricket World Cup semi-final in 2019 against New Zealand which also marked Dhoni’s final appearance at the marquee event. Yograj Singh, father of former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh opined that Dhoni was extremely poor in his batting approach and played absolutely safe while urging others to take on the Kiwi bowlers.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>

“One boy (Ravindra Jadeja) comes and he starts playing the big shots at will without any worry. You are batting on the other end. You are telling him to play the shots while he was batting on 77. Before that, you told Hardik Pandya to take on the spinners,” Yograj was quoted as saying by Times Now.<o:p></o:p>

“Mr Mahendra Singh Dhoni, you have played so much cricket. Don’t you have any sense about what to do and what not? Did Yuvraj ever tell any other player to play the shots as you do? You got so many half-volleys, you hit huge sixes, what happened to you at that moment? Were you worried? You should have got out. What difference would it have made?" he added.<o:p></o:p>

1. CSK match-fixing episode and Dhoni’s alleged involvement<o:p></o:p>

The 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal grabbed headlines when Dhoni's name emerged in the news. IPS officer Sampath Kumar alleged that Dhoni had a role in IPL match-fixing scandal and further claimed that there was a cover-up operation to save big names, read a report by India Today.<o:p></o:p>

The official statements of Sampath Kumar were not exactly known as it was shared in a report before Justice Mudgal Committee. However, numerous sources confirmed the names of Gurunath Meiyappan and Vikram Agarwal along with Dhoni involved in the case. <o:p></o:p>

In 2014, the cricketer decided to file a civil suit to permanently restrain the officer from making any statement linking him to match-fixing and spot-fixing of matches. The matter included names of some top brass of IPL teams alongside cricketers such as S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan who later got acquitted.<o:p></o:p>

Mahendra Singh <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/cricket-news/afghanistan-cricketer-rahmanullah-gurbaz-expresses-desire-to-play-with-ms-dhoni/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dhoni</a>, arguably one of the best captains of all time in world cricket has won every possible trophy for the teams he has represented. Synonymous with the term ‘cool’, Dhoni often maintains a down-to-earth conduct on the field but has at times been at the centre of controversy.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
During his professional career, the Ranchi-born cricketer established himself as a clinical finisher with the bat and single-handedly won games for his sides. It was his ability to hold his nerve during the crunch moments and make tough calls on the field as skipper and score vital runs as a batter that made him an astute player.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
Not every other skipper is fortunate enough to get compared to the likes of Clive Lloyd, Ricky Ponting among others. However, MS Dhoni was often compared to the aforementioned greats as under him the Men in Blue clinched the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
If you are one of the most popular faces in the sports industry, it is nearly impossible to stay away from the media and get away with controversies. India’s most successful skipper too found himself in a spot of bother at times. In this piece, we take a look at the top five instances when controversial statements were made against the former India skipper.<o:p></o:p>
<h2 class="MsoNormal">Five controversial statements made against MS Dhoni<o:p></o:p></h2>
<h3 class="MsoNormal">5. Sreesanth’s father accused Dhoni for spoiling pacer’s reputation<o:p></o:p></h3>
<amp-img src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/featureimage/S.-Sreesanth-and-MS-Dhoni.jpg" alt width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img>
The Kerala-born cricketer shared an unusual chemistry with the former India skipper during his stint with the national side. In 2013, when the pacer was found involved in the spot-fixing scandal, Sreesanth’s father- Shantakumaran Nair alleged that it was Dhoni and spinner Harbhajan Singh who had implicated his son in the same.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
"Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh had been involved in controversies (with Sreesanth) in the past. Dhoni, the captain, had threatened that Sreesanth would not be in the Indian team. Both have this enmity towards Sreesanth. He (Sreesanth) has been longing to return to the Indian team. He would not deliberately get involved in such an act when he wanted to return to the Indian team,” told Nair as quoted by the Indian Express.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
However, the pacer’s father issued an apology later and stated that he made the initial comments in the heat of the moment due to an emotional outburst. Despite the controversial statements made against the former India skipper, Dhoni decided not to respond to the allegations.

<h3 class="MsoNormal">4. Rashid Latif’s ‘high dropping percentage’ statement&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></h3>
<amp-img src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/featureimage/2019/02/Rashid-Latif.jpg" alt width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img>
Dhoni was known for his lightning speed behind the stumps and quick thinking and won India crucial matches. The keeper in the ODIs claimed 321 catches and 123 stumpings in 350 matches, similarly, in the red-ball format, he bagged 256 catches, 38 stumpings in 166 innings. Dhoni tops the charts in the T20Is as he claimed 57 catches and 34 stumpings in 98 outings.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
However, despite all the records etched in history as a keeper, Pakistan's former wicket-keeper batter Rashid Latif was unimpressed with Dhoni’s wicket-keeping skills. “Dhoni was a batsman-wicketkeeper. Obviously, Dhoni is a very big name. But if I go into stats, his dropping percentage is 21 per cent, which is huge, huge,” the former Pakistan cricketer was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.<o:p></o:p>
Despite the claims made by the former Pakistan cricketer, Dhoni has time and again proven his razor-sharp quality behind the stumps.

<h3 class="MsoNormal">3. Accused of Conflict of Interest (Rhiti Sports Management)<o:p></o:p></h3>
<amp-img src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/featureimage/MS-Dhoni-Suresh-Raina-and-Ravindra-Jadeja.jpg" alt width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img>
The <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/cricket-news/csk-team-2023-player-list-complete-chennai-super-kings-csk-squad-and-players-list-for-ipl-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chennai Super Kings</a> (CSK) skipper in 2015 was accused of alleged conflict of interest involving Rhiti Sports Management. The mentioned company manages his commercial interests as well as the same of his fellow CSK mates Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja.<o:p></o:p>
The controversy sparked when it was alleged that Dhoni owned 15% of the shares at Rhiti. This essentially meant that Dhoni could also take a part from the earnings of Raina and Jadeja. Former India cricketer Kirti Azad had claimed that certain documents confirmed the former India skipper’s involvement.&nbsp;&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
“Obviously, the documents that have come out indicate that it has been a conflict of interest as far as Dhoni’s involvement with Rhiti Sports is concerned,” Kirti Azad was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;However, the business later confirmed that the keeper was not a shareholder at the time of the deals and it brought a lot of clarity.

<h3 class="MsoNormal">2. Accused of batting at an underwhelming rate in the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final<o:p></o:p></h3>
<amp-img src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/featureimage/2020/05/Yuvraj-Singh-Yograj-Singh-and-MS-Dhoni.jpg" alt width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img>
Team India suffered an exit from the ODI Cricket World Cup semi-final in 2019 against New Zealand which also marked Dhoni’s final appearance at the marquee event. Yograj Singh, father of former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh opined that Dhoni was extremely poor in his batting approach and played absolutely safe while urging others to take on the Kiwi bowlers.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
“One boy (Ravindra Jadeja) comes and he starts playing the big shots at will without any worry. You are batting on the other end. You are telling him to play the shots while he was batting on 77. Before that, you told Hardik Pandya to take on the spinners,” Yograj was quoted as saying by Times Now.<o:p></o:p>
“Mr Mahendra Singh Dhoni, you have played so much cricket. Don’t you have any sense about what to do and what not? Did Yuvraj ever tell any other player to play the shots as you do? You got so many half-volleys, you hit huge sixes, what happened to you at that moment? Were you worried? You should have got out. What difference would it have made?" he added.<o:p></o:p>

<h3 class="MsoNormal">1. CSK match-fixing episode and Dhoni’s alleged involvement<o:p></o:p></h3>
<amp-img src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/1662284822398_MS-Dhoni.jpeg" alt width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img>
The 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal grabbed headlines when Dhoni's name emerged in the news. IPS officer Sampath Kumar alleged that Dhoni had a role in IPL match-fixing scandal and further claimed that there was a cover-up operation to save big names, read a report by India Today.<o:p></o:p>
The official statements of Sampath Kumar were not exactly known as it was shared in a report before Justice Mudgal Committee. However, numerous sources confirmed the names of Gurunath Meiyappan and Vikram Agarwal along with Dhoni involved in the case. <o:p></o:p>
In 2014, the cricketer decided to file a civil suit to permanently restrain the officer from making any statement linking him to match-fixing and spot-fixing of matches. The matter included names of some top brass of IPL teams alongside cricketers such as S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan who later got acquitted.<o:p></o:p>

Mahendra Singh <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/cricket-news/afghanistan-cricketer-rahmanullah-gurbaz-expresses-desire-to-play-with-ms-dhoni/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dhoni</a>, arguably one of the best captains of all time in world cricket has won every possible trophy for the teams he has represented. Synonymous with the term ‘cool’, Dhoni often maintains a down-to-earth conduct on the field but has at times been at the centre of controversy.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
During his professional career, the Ranchi-born cricketer established himself as a clinical finisher with the bat and single-handedly won games for his sides. It was his ability to hold his nerve during the crunch moments and make tough calls on the field as skipper and score vital runs as a batter that made him an astute player.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
Not every other skipper is fortunate enough to get compared to the likes of Clive Lloyd, Ricky Ponting among others. However, MS Dhoni was often compared to the aforementioned greats as under him the Men in Blue clinched the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
If you are one of the most popular faces in the sports industry, it is nearly impossible to stay away from the media and get away with controversies. India’s most successful skipper too found himself in a spot of bother at times. In this piece, we take a look at the top five instances when controversial statements were made against the former India skipper.<o:p></o:p>
<h2 class="MsoNormal">Five controversial statements made against MS Dhoni<o:p></o:p></h2>
<h3 class="MsoNormal">5. Sreesanth’s father accused Dhoni for spoiling pacer’s reputation<o:p></o:p></h3>
<img src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/featureimage/S.-Sreesanth-and-MS-Dhoni.jpg" alt="" width="640" loading="lazy">
The Kerala-born cricketer shared an unusual chemistry with the former India skipper during his stint with the national side. In 2013, when the pacer was found involved in the spot-fixing scandal, Sreesanth’s father- Shantakumaran Nair alleged that it was Dhoni and spinner Harbhajan Singh who had implicated his son in the same.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
"Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh had been involved in controversies (with Sreesanth) in the past. Dhoni, the captain, had threatened that Sreesanth would not be in the Indian team. Both have this enmity towards Sreesanth. He (Sreesanth) has been longing to return to the Indian team. He would not deliberately get involved in such an act when he wanted to return to the Indian team,” told Nair as quoted by the Indian Express.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
However, the pacer’s father issued an apology later and stated that he made the initial comments in the heat of the moment due to an emotional outburst. Despite the controversial statements made against the former India skipper, Dhoni decided not to respond to the allegations.

<h3 class="MsoNormal">4. Rashid Latif’s ‘high dropping percentage’ statement&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></h3>
<img src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/featureimage/2019/02/Rashid-Latif.jpg" alt="" width="640" loading="lazy">
Dhoni was known for his lightning speed behind the stumps and quick thinking and won India crucial matches. The keeper in the ODIs claimed 321 catches and 123 stumpings in 350 matches, similarly, in the red-ball format, he bagged 256 catches, 38 stumpings in 166 innings. Dhoni tops the charts in the T20Is as he claimed 57 catches and 34 stumpings in 98 outings.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
However, despite all the records etched in history as a keeper, Pakistan's former wicket-keeper batter Rashid Latif was unimpressed with Dhoni’s wicket-keeping skills. “Dhoni was a batsman-wicketkeeper. Obviously, Dhoni is a very big name. But if I go into stats, his dropping percentage is 21 per cent, which is huge, huge,” the former Pakistan cricketer was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.<o:p></o:p>
Despite the claims made by the former Pakistan cricketer, Dhoni has time and again proven his razor-sharp quality behind the stumps.

<h3 class="MsoNormal">3. Accused of Conflict of Interest (Rhiti Sports Management)<o:p></o:p></h3>
<img src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/featureimage/MS-Dhoni-Suresh-Raina-and-Ravindra-Jadeja.jpg" alt="" width="640" loading="lazy">
The <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/cricket-news/csk-team-2023-player-list-complete-chennai-super-kings-csk-squad-and-players-list-for-ipl-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chennai Super Kings</a> (CSK) skipper in 2015 was accused of alleged conflict of interest involving Rhiti Sports Management. The mentioned company manages his commercial interests as well as the same of his fellow CSK mates Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja.<o:p></o:p>
The controversy sparked when it was alleged that Dhoni owned 15% of the shares at Rhiti. This essentially meant that Dhoni could also take a part from the earnings of Raina and Jadeja. Former India cricketer Kirti Azad had claimed that certain documents confirmed the former India skipper’s involvement.&nbsp;&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
“Obviously, the documents that have come out indicate that it has been a conflict of interest as far as Dhoni’s involvement with Rhiti Sports is concerned,” Kirti Azad was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;However, the business later confirmed that the keeper was not a shareholder at the time of the deals and it brought a lot of clarity.

<h3 class="MsoNormal">2. Accused of batting at an underwhelming rate in the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final<o:p></o:p></h3>
<img src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/featureimage/2020/05/Yuvraj-Singh-Yograj-Singh-and-MS-Dhoni.jpg" alt="" width="640" loading="lazy">
Team India suffered an exit from the ODI Cricket World Cup semi-final in 2019 against New Zealand which also marked Dhoni’s final appearance at the marquee event. Yograj Singh, father of former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh opined that Dhoni was extremely poor in his batting approach and played absolutely safe while urging others to take on the Kiwi bowlers.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>
“One boy (Ravindra Jadeja) comes and he starts playing the big shots at will without any worry. You are batting on the other end. You are telling him to play the shots while he was batting on 77. Before that, you told Hardik Pandya to take on the spinners,” Yograj was quoted as saying by Times Now.<o:p></o:p>
“Mr Mahendra Singh Dhoni, you have played so much cricket. Don’t you have any sense about what to do and what not? Did Yuvraj ever tell any other player to play the shots as you do? You got so many half-volleys, you hit huge sixes, what happened to you at that moment? Were you worried? You should have got out. What difference would it have made?" he added.<o:p></o:p>

<h3 class="MsoNormal">1. CSK match-fixing episode and Dhoni’s alleged involvement<o:p></o:p></h3>
<img src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/1662284822398_MS-Dhoni.jpeg" alt="" width="640" loading="lazy">
The 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal grabbed headlines when Dhoni's name emerged in the news. IPS officer Sampath Kumar alleged that Dhoni had a role in IPL match-fixing scandal and further claimed that there was a cover-up operation to save big names, read a report by India Today.<o:p></o:p>
The official statements of Sampath Kumar were not exactly known as it was shared in a report before Justice Mudgal Committee. However, numerous sources confirmed the names of Gurunath Meiyappan and Vikram Agarwal along with Dhoni involved in the case. <o:p></o:p>
In 2014, the cricketer decided to file a civil suit to permanently restrain the officer from making any statement linking him to match-fixing and spot-fixing of matches. The matter included names of some top brass of IPL teams alongside cricketers such as S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan who later got acquitted.<o:p></o:p>

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, arguably one of the best captains of all time in world cricket has won every possible trophy for the teams he has represented. Synonymous with the term ‘cool’, Dhoni often mainta

5 Instances when controversial comments were made on Dhoni

MS Dhoni clinched three ICC titles during his reign as the skipper of the Indian team and is all set to captain the CSK side once again in the forthcoming edition of the IPL.

5 Instances when controversial statements were made against MS Dhoni

Check out the five major controversial statements where Dhoni's name got involved in a row.