Dhoni explains why the collision with Mustafizur happened

Dhoni explains why the collision with Mustafizur happened: Indian captain MS Dhoni and his Bangladeshi counterpart Mashrafe Mortaza maintain a view that every incident that happens on the field is in the heat of the moment and should not be considered intentional and need not be stretched much after it.

Both Dhoni and Mustafizur have been fined 75 and 50 percent of their respective match fees for the altercation, which looked an unintentional collision from the batsman’s point of view; who had to keep running on the same track to avoid getting run-out.

Interestingly the sequence happened in the 25^th over of India’s batting innings, Mustafizur was bowling left-arm pace over the wicket to Dhoni. He pushed the ball towards mid-off for a single, with Raina as his partner he was sure to complete the quick run without much ado. Raina was running at Dhoni’s right and he was on a straightish, probably the shorter track to the other end. Mustafizur after delivering his ball, moved across the pitch, not on his natural follow-through, while there was also no attempt made to go on and collect the ball, he also had a brief look at the incoming batsman.

Video – Watch: Captain cool MS Dhoni loses his cool and tackles Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman

It can either be the case that he expected Dhoni to move around him and get to the other side, but asking that would have been a bit too much and Dhoni would have either run himself out or ran on the pitch; both of which are a no-no. So he chose to keep sprinting on his predetermined path and would have liked the bowler to rather around as he could neither go to his right as he would have same-tracked Raina there nor switchover to the left.

Though the footages show Dhoni pushing his forearm into Mustafizur it was rather his attempt to put the bowler off his way and avoid a full, body-on collision, and reduce the impact and possibility of an injury to either of the crickets. It should also be noted that the bowler was earlier in the innings warned by the India opener Rohit Sharma and the umpires to avoid interfering in the batsmen’s run, which he repeated again with Dhoni in the incident.

Mustafizur had to be helped out of the field by the team physio instantly for a quick checkup and treatment, following which he could not bowl in the game. But he had already grabbed a 5-wicket haul on debut spending 50 runs in his 9.2 overs spell. Dhoni however failed to leave an impact and was soon removed by Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan on the score of 5 from 13 balls.

Following the game, addressing the media Dhoni with his usual smile said: “Well, I thought he will move, he thought I will move and both of us ended up colliding because I had to take the closest path possible getting to the other end,”

“If I am going around the bowler, more often than not they’ll get the batsman out. So either I should have moved to the right or he should have moved to the left but both of us thought maybe the other guy will, but we ended up with a, what you can say, a typical kind of a street clash. Thankfully he didn’t get injured, and I didn’t get injured.” He said.

Mashrafe also felt that there was no need to lengthen the issue and that both the teams will come out again and meet each other in the right spirit. “Things like this can happen on the field during a match. We all shake hands at the end of the day and such situations can be discussed with the on-field umpires. It’s nothing serious,” he said.

The ICC official Press Release said: The two players were found to have breached Article 2.2.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “Inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between Players in the course of play during an International Match”.

Both the players pleaded not guilty to the charge and as such, a hearing was held on Friday morning by Andy Pycroft of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees in which television footage was used. Apart from the match officials, both the players and their managers attended the hearing.

Explaining his decision, Mr Pycroft said: “In the hearing, Dhoni defended the charge on the basis that the bowler was on the wrong line and realising that he couldn’t avoid the collision, he used his hand and arm to push him away as he went through to ‘minimise the impact’.

“However, my assessment was that Dhoni deliberately pushed and shouldered Mustafizur, which was inappropriate. Even if there was a narrow gap between the runner (Suresh Raina) and the bowler, an experienced Dhoni should have tried to avoid the collision as cricket is a non-contact sport and the players are expected to avoid physical contact at all times. On this basis, I fined Dhoni 75 per cent of his match fee”.

Having initially pleaded not guilty to the offence, upon being faced with the evidence during the hearing and upon questioning, Mustafizur admitted his guilt and accepted the proposed sanction.

Mr Pycroft said, “Mustafizur was fined 50 per cent of his match fee after he admitted that that his actions in not getting out of the batsman’s way were inappropriate and he should have done more to avoid the contact.”

The charge had been laid by the on-field umpires Rod Tucker and Enamul Haque, as well as third umpire Anisur Rahman and fourth umpire Masudur Rahman.