JOIN USMahendra Singh Dhoni's uncharacteristic outburst against a controversial umpiring decision led to the Chennai Super Kings captain being fined 50 percent of his match fee in Thursday night's Indian Premier League (IPL) match here.
Hailed as 'Captain Cool', an unusually fired-up Dhoni stepped onto the field to remonstrate with the umpire over a contentious no-ball call in a dramatic final over against Rajasthan Royals.
"MS Dhoni, the Chennai Super Kings captain, was fined 50 percent of his match fees for breaching the Indian Premier League's Code of Conduct during his team's match against Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur," the league said in a statement.
Confusion reigned in the last over after umpire Ulhas Gandhe signalled Ben Stokes' waist-high delivery a no-ball but the decision was overruled by square-leg umpire Bruce Oxenford, prompting Dhoni to enter the field and confront the umpires.
The no ball was eventually deemed a legal delivery but Chennai, needing four runs off the last ball, managed to win with a last-ball six from Mitchell Santner.
"MS was after some clarity and it didn't seem to be coming so he took the opportunity to go out and discuss it with the umpires. The rights and wrongs will be discussed by everybody," Chennai head coach Stephen Fleming told reporters.
"He was certainly fired up about the way the decision was handled and why it was overturned... and he wanted to get it clarified at a key moment."
Rajasthan's Jos Buttler was not sure if Dhoni did the right thing in approaching the umpires.
"Obviously tensions are running high in the IPL, every run counts and it was a big moment in the game," the Englishman said. "But whether stepping on to the pitch is right, no, probably not."
Former England captain Michael Vaughan was more outspoken in his criticism of Dhoni.
"This is not a good look for the game," Vaughan tweeted. "No place at all for a captain to storm onto the pitch from the dugout."
The controversy overshadowed Dhoni's achievement of registering his 100th win as IPL captain. The victory took Chennai to the top of the table with 12 points in seven games.
"Firstly, a 100 wins is great, secondly Dhoni as captain is very successful, Dhoni as a player is outstanding. They are both very closely related," Fleming said.