You simply don't mess with Dhoni. Despite having played international cricket for over 15 years, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is as alert on the field today as he was when he began his career. Wednesday's 'Mankad' warning is a prime example. Earlier, Mumbai Indians all-rounder Krunal Pandya earned a lot of praise for sparing Kings XI Punjab's Mayank Agarwal from 'Mankading' him when he had an opportunity to, slyly reminding the Punjab captain Ravichandran Ashwin how 'Mankading' is done. The spinner had dismissed Rajasthan Royals' Jos Buttler without giving him a prior warning, causing a huge uproar within the cricket fraternity. Going with the "spirit of the game," Pandya once again stopped in his tracks, to issue the batsman a warning for backing up. The batsman at the non-striker's end? Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The incident happened in the 14th over of the second innings during the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings clash, when CSK was chasing MI's 170/5 at the Wankhede Stadium. Bowling to Kedar Jadhav, Pandya completed his run-up but never released the ball to inform Dhoni to stay in the crease. But was Dhoni backing up? The replays that ran on the big screen told a different story. Dhoni was in his crease all the time and at no point had he dragged his willow away from the safety. (Image credit: IPL / BCCI) Dhoni's alertness on the field had Sanjay Manjrekar seated in the commentary box tittering. "Right instincts for Dhoni. The bat was inside, the ball was in the scene. He does most things right. Just out of instincts, with Dhoni very rarely will you see him do something that is incorrect," Manjraker said. Mahi fans were left unamused after the incident. A Mankad "attempt" from Krunal to Dhoni?! Man, imagine that. Dhoni was well back in his crease though. He is too smart for that.— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) April 3, 2019 If #krunal dared to mankad #dhoni he may have faced the wrath of a nation. #MIvCSK— JohnnyBoy (@JohnnyBuoooy) April 3, 2019 Imagine if Krunal got Dhoni with a mankad there, scenes. #MIvCSK #VivoIPL #IPL12— The cricket pavilion (@PavilionPatter) April 3, 2019 Ok there goes that 'if it was Dhoni' for Mankad argument..— Harisankar (@harish_staycalm) April 3, 2019 What's with reports of Krunal trying to mankad Dhoni??? He just stopped in his tracks to see what the batsman was trying. Did it a couple of times last year too. Now are we calling every such delivery a mankad attempt?? #MIvCSK #IPL2019— Rohit Sankar (@imRohit_SN) April 4, 2019 Later, the video was uploaded on the official IPL website. You can watch it here: iplt20.com Back to the match, Chennai Super Kings faced their first defeat in the ongoing IPL season after they succumbed to a 37-run loss to Mumbai Indians on Wednesday at the Wankhede. MI's Suryakumar Yadav smashed a valuable 59 (43) and late fireworks by Hardik Pandya (25 off 8) and Kieron Pollard's 17 in 7 deliveries propelled the home team to a competitive score of 170. CSK's chase was marred by excellent spells from Lasith Malinga and Hardik Pandya, who bagged three wickets each while Jason Behrendorff managed to send two CSK batsmen to the dugout. The Men in Yellow could only manage 133/8 in their designated 20 overs.<doc-sep>The highlight of yesterday’s Indian Premier League match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings was for sure, Hardik Pandya. It was the famous ‘helicopter shot’ that stole the limelight. Hardik who stood in the crease, used his wrists to flick the ball and pull off the Dhoni-special helicopter shot sending the ball sailing over the mid-wicket region. In the final three deliveries, Hardik scored a 6, 4 and 6. His shot was captured on camera and is now making rounds on social media. The helicopter shot is MS Dhoni's signature shot, and at the end of the video, you can also hear the crowd cheering for Dhoni. The cameraman - probably curious about Dhoni's reaction - panned the camera towards him, but 'captain cool' stood stoically on the field. Hardik's innings left his brother Krunal mighty impressed as he said, "I am very happy for the way he's (Hardik) batting, I'm impressed. I have never seen him bat this well previously, will have to use our variations to defend this score," at the end of Mumbai's innings. Krunal is also playing for Mumbai Indians and he too played a crucial role for Mumbai with his knock of 42 runs in 32 balls with one six. MI won the match and handed CSK its first loss of the IPL 2019.<doc-sep>
Ravichandran Ashwin hit the headlines early on in the Indian Premier League this season after he inflicted a ‘mankad’ dismissal on Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler and changed the complexion of the match. Since then a lot has been said about the rule and whether what Ashwin did was in accordance with the spirit of the game. In Wednesday’s blockbuster clash between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, left arm spinner Krunal Pandya stopped short of delivering the fifth ball of the 14th over to CSK’s Kedar Jadhav despite going though his full action. ALSO READ: RCB vs KKR: Royal Challengers Bangalore Predicted XI - big changes expected CSK captain MS Dhoni was at the non-striker’s end and as the replay suggests, he was trying get a start but his bat stayed firmly inside the crease. Pandya didn’t have any conversation with Dhoni and there was no formal warning give by the bowler to the non-striker. But from the replays it seems like Pandya was mindful of the fact that Dhoni was looking to move out of the crease. Dhoni Receives a Rare 'Mankad' Warning From Krunal Pandya https://t.co/3opSBEy9Gj — FLAME MEDIA (@flamemediaindia) April 4, 2019 While there has been no confirmation from anyone of this, it did seem that Dhoni was aware of what Pandya was trying to do and used his reflexes to ensure there was harm caused. Sanjay Manjrekar, who was in the commentary box at that moment said, “Right instincts for Dhoni. The bat was inside, the ball was in the scene. He does most things right. Just out of instincts, with Dhoni very rarely will you see him do something that is incorrect.” Mumbai Indians eventually won the match to win their 100th IPL match and also ensured CSK’s winning streak in the tournament came to an end.