IPL 2020: Fans unhappy after Harbhajan Singh responds with ‘laughing emojis’ at MS Dhoni's wide controversy

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) match against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), on Tuesday, October 13, was marred with controversy. At the fag end of the game at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, umpire Paul Reiffel went under the scanner after he refrained from signalling a wide. It took place when the Sunrisers needed 25 runs off the last 11 deliveries of the game.

Shardul Thakur bowled a wide yorker and Rashid Khan failed to make any sort of connection. The ball seemed to have been outside the tramline. Subsequently, Reiffel was preparing to outstretch his arms to signal the wide. But he didn’t do so, raising a few eyebrows if not a whole lot. The Super Kings’ skipper MS Dhoni, from behind the wickets, didn’t seem a happy man either.

Later, former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop reckoned that Dhoni’s reaction, most probably, prompted Reiffel to alter his decision. As per the laws, Reiffel, also a former Australian cricketer, wasn’t wrong. The rule-book says that an umpire is allowed to change a decision provided it’s done promptly. David Warner, the SRH captain expressed his anguish after the decision.

Harbhajan Singh has his say

The Orange Army went on to lose the match by 20 runs to keep straining at the bottom half of the points table. It was also their second defeat on the trot after the one against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the same venue. For CSK and Dhoni, the victory came as a breather as the Yellow Brigade had lost five out of their first seven matches of the cash-rich T20 extravaganza.

In the meantime, Harbhajan Singh, the veteran Indian cricketer, had his say on the matter. In one of the videos of the wide-controversy, the legendary off-break bowler responded with laughing emojis, seeing the funnier side of what happened on the field.

However, the fans weren’t happy with him for some reason. The netizens gave Harbhajan’s reaction a controversial angle, seeming to blow the issue out of proportion. One of them even slammed him for mocking Dhoni and helping out Shahid Afridi, the former Pakistan all-rounder.

Here’s how the netizens reacted: