Umpire Sudhir Asnani narrates a rare incident where emotions got the better of MS Dhoni

Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni was known for his calmness on the field and his emotions never reflected when he made the toughest of decisions and even when the going was against his team. But umpire Sudhir Asnani shared a rare incident where Dhoni wasn’t pleased with the umpire’s call and expressly made it a point that it was noted.

During an ODI between India and England at Mohali in the tour of 2013, the Indian team went up with an lbw appeal against England’s star batsman Kevin Pietersen who was hit on the pads by an Ishant Sharma delivery. It was Asnani who had to make the call and after considering everything he declared it not out. The Indians couldn’t believe it and their skipper was agitated by that decision as well.

The ball according to the umpire would’ve just missed the off-stump and thus prompted him to turn down a rather strong appeal from the bowing team. “As I turned down the appeal, the fielders slumped on the ground,” Sudhir was quoted by DNA as saying.

That was not all, Dhoni then walked up to him and asked for the reason he gave it not out. “I told him that the ball was missing the off-stump,” he said. But the wicketkeeper-skipper wasn’t quite convinced and disagreed with it that really got the umpire nervous.

The Indian captain being the keeper has a good idea about the decisions and isn’t known for making hard appeals on calls he feels wouldn’t go in their favour. Asnani also added, “I was really shaken by his disagreement. As nervousness got better of me, I lost track of the happenings in the game,”

But it turned out to be the right decisions and replays confirmed that. To Sudhir’s relief, fourth umpire Anil Chaudhary who walked out to the middle during the drinks break confirmed that the ball was indeed missing the stumps and his decision was the correct one.

MS Dhoni was around while the conversation was going on between the umpires, he accepted his mistake and said, “One plus, Sudhir.”

It isn’t a common sight that a player accepts his mistake and makes up for it on the field but Dhoni isn’t contemporary in anything that he does. “I have never seen a captain do this to an umpire in my life,” Asnani said praising the most successful Indian skipper.