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Cricket is called a gentleman’s game and the likes of MS Dhoni and others maintained that spirit in the game. His contribution to the game has been immense and the Ranchi-based batter has given us many memories to cherish. MS Dhoni is often known for his cool and calm demeanour on the cricket field. But there were some instances where the former Indian captain was caught up in unwanted controversies.
Let's look at five instances where MS Dhoni was involved in controversy.
1. The Conflict of Interest
Back in 2013, MS Dhoni had bought stakes in Rhtiti Sports. Rhiti Sports is a managing company that manages sports personalities. Rhtiti Sports previously managed Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja. It was reported that whatever earnings these 2 players made, 15% of that was transferred to MS Dhoni. This was termed as a conflict of interest by the then BCCI management ( according to the Lodha Committee) and eventually MS Dhoni was forced to sell his stake in the company.
2. MS Dhoni and Mustafizur Rahman's tiff
This incident happened back in 2015 when India was playing their neighbour, Bangladesh. In one match when the Indian team was batting, the Bangladeshi bowler deliberately came in the way of MS Dhoni, who was running for a single. Both had clashed in the middle of the pitch. In trying to avoid the clash it was seen as if MS Dhoni had elbowed Rahman. This incident was blown out of proportion by the media and, later, Dhoni was fined 75% of the match fee for this incident by the match referee.
3. The no-ball controversy against Rajasthan Royals in 2019
MS Dhoni was caught on camera losing his cool in an IPL match against the Rajasthan Royals back in 2019. The match was in a tense situation in the last over. It all started with the on-field standing umpire calling one ball as the waist-height no-ball, but then later the square umpire, Bruce Oxenford, overruled the decision of the standing umpire and no ball was not given.
This incident angered the entire CSK dressing room, and an angry MS Dhoni immediately walked onto the field and started arguing with the umpires. The argument lasted a bit, but the no-ball was not given. The Chennai Super Kings eventually won the match but seeing the cool and calm MS Dhoni reacting in that way, everyone was taken aback.
Later, MS Dhoni was fined 75% of his match fee.
4. The spot-fixing scandal
One of the major sporting scandals in India was the IPL spot-fixing scandal of 2013. It was alleged that some players from two teams, the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, were involved in the incident. Later, during the investigation, it was found that bookies were involved and huge bets were placed on players. Then CSK owner N. Srinivasan's son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, was found involved, and MS Dhoni's name also appeared. Even MS Dhoni's wife, Sakshi Dhoni, was alleged to be involved through her friend and associate ( back then) Vindu Dara Singh.
After the proper investigation, two teams and their owners were found guilty, and thus the Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings were banned from the IPL for two seasons. Another surprising fact for everyone was MS Dhoni's silence throughout this whole scandal.
Later, in the documentary on Hotstar named "The Roar of the Lion" based on CSK, MS Dhoni opened up about that infamous incident and said, “ I didn't want to speak to anyone at that time. It was scratching me from the inside, and I didn't want any such thing to have an effect on my cricket."
5. Controversial Rotation Policy
MS Dhoni had introduced a new rotation policy among the Indian team, especially for the openers. The three senior openers, Sachin Tendulkar, Virendra Sehwag, and Gautam Gambhir, were rotated during the series. The reason given for this was to manage their workload and form and also to give opportunities to young players in the team. This policy of Dhoni was openly criticised by the senior players and reports of a rift between Sehwag and Dhoni surfaced. It was widely reported that the dressing room atmosphere was not cheerful anymore and there was a split where a few players were in Dhoni Camp while a few were in the senior players' camp.
Gautam Gambhir was one of the players affected by that policy and he had to sit out for many games in spite of scoring runs and being in form. In a media interaction, Gambhir had said, "According to me, this new policy is complete crap."