Mitchell Santner reveals what happened during MS Dhoni's infamous argument with the umpires in IPL 2019

The 2019 season of the Indian Premier League had several matches which went down to the wire. However, it was Chennai Super Kings, who part of many such thrilling matches. One match which would be remembered by many fans has to be the one against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur.

In the last over of the match, CSK needed 18 runs to win off the final over. However, the equation had come down to eight runs required from three balls. Ben Stokes bowled the ball, the umpire seemed to have raised his hand indicating that it was an over-waist no-ball.

But, the very next moment the umpire had overruled the decision. This angered the CSK management. Captain cool MS Dhoni walked straight to the umpire from the dugout to have a chat about this. One of the CSK players, who was on the field at the time, Mitchell Santner opened up about this incident in an interview.

Recalling that incident, the Kiwi all-rounder said that he was as surprised as anyone else. The left-arm also said that it was the commitment towards the game which made his skipper do that.

MS Dhoni straightaway apologised: Mitchell Santner

“I was probably as surprised as everyone. He (Dhoni) is so calm. But I think that shows you how committed he is to the team and how much of a family it is to him and how much it means to him to do something like that. It wasn’t anger, it was just one of the umpires just stuck his hand out and you can’t be going back,” Santner said during an Instagram Live session with Chennai Super Kings.

Eventually, CSK won the match when Santner hit Stokes for a six off the last ball. However, he noted that if their team would have lost that match, there could have more anger flowing from the management.

“I guess, to end up winning it was a good thing. If we had lost it, there would have been more anger flowing around”, the 28-year-old said.

The all-rounder also said that match bought team together as they went on to win a few more matches after that.

“It kind of shows you how it brought everyone together. We went on to win a few after that. Those kinds of games… if you get on the right side of the result… it can help you gain momentum moving forward. It wasn’t a perfect game but different people stepped up at different times”,

The New Zealander also revealed that MS Dhoni later apologised to the umpires after the match. However, he said that the incident might have agitated Stokes, who bowled an easy ball to smash and get the win.

“A little bit (talk after the game). I was out there. I obviously saw him out there. He was right next to the umpire. Obviously he knew he was not allowed to do that. He apologised straightaway. It might have flustered Stokes and gave me a good ball to hit. I am happy,” Santner said.