'You hardly get to see Mr Cool losing his cool' - Krishnappa Gowtham recalls when MS Dhoni stormed on to field in IPL 2019

The cut-throat competition and high intensity of the Indian Premier League (IPL) often lead to players getting riled up on the field. Since its inception, the IPL has emerged as the premier T20 tournament due to its quality of cricket. In pursuit of clinching a victory, there have been many instances in the league when emotions have taken over a player, leading to an on-field altercation.

Even MS Dhoni, known for his cool and composed on-field attitude, was involved in an incident where he couldn’t control his temper. The instance happened in a game between RR and CSK in IPL 2019. An animated MS Dhoni walked onto the field during play after the umpires failed to call a no-ball during the last over of the match.

It looked like a sure-shot no-ball which the umpires failed to spot. Dhoni was riled up and he walked straightaway to the on-field umpires to argue about their decision. Despite the skipper’s disagreement, the decision stood and Dhoni had to walk back to the dugout in disappointment.

CSK eventually went to clinch the encounter after Mitchell Santner hit a last-ball six off Ben Stokes and Dhoni was awarded Man of the Match for his 43-ball 58.

It shows the intensity of the IPL: Krishnappa Gowtham

Former Rajasthan Royals player Krishnappa Gowtham, in an Instagram Live with CricTracker, recalled the incident and highlighted how emotions sometimes take over the best of players. Gowtham pointed out that it’s the ‘intensity’ of the IPL which leads to ‘cool’ players like Dhoni lose their temper.

“When a guy like MS involves himself while playing a game, it shows the intensity of the IPL. It says that the coolest of people will lose their temper when it comes to such games,” Gowtham told host Adarsh Raman on Insta Live with CricTracker

“It’s like one of those incidents where we can’t think too much about it and dwell on it too much because in cricket sometimes emotions get over the best of people. And he was so into the game that he couldn’t control himself. He just walked in. You hardly get to see Mr Cool losing his cool. So we need to enjoy that as well,” added the 31-year-old.

Gowtham was traded by Rajasthan Royals to Kings XI Punjab in the players’ transfer window ahead of IPL 2020. Gowtham, who was bought for INR 6.2 crores by RR at the 2018 auction, played 15 games in 2018 and only seven in 2019.