In an early morning communique, IPL has confirmed that MS Dhoni has been docked 50% of his match fees for his unprecedented behaviour of barging into field to protest a decision taken by umpires during their match against Rajasthan Royals.
The statement read, "MS Dhoni, the Chennai Super Kings captain, was fined 50 percent of his match fees for breaching the VIVO Indian Premier League’s (IPL) Code of Conduct during his team’s match against Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur. Mr Dhoni admitted to the Level 2 offence 2.20 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct and accepted the sanction".
Earlier, a visibly angry MS Dhoni had entered the field when umpires reversed the decision of a no-ball during the last over of the thriller played in Jaipur between CSK and RR. CSK won the match in the last ball when Santner hit a six off Stokes to seal a memorable victory. But it was not before much drama, when MS Dhoni entered the field to protest a decision to reverse a no-ball decision in the last over when Stokes bowled a full toss to Santner. Both the umpires were divided about it and the no-ball call was withdrawn even after it was indicated. Umpire Ulhas Gandhe had signalled it as no-ball but square leg unpire Bruce Oxenford disagreed and said that it was a legitimate delivery. This greatly irked Dhoni, who had just got out after playing a stellar hand of 58 runs of 43 balls. Dhoni who was adjudged the man of the match, barged into the field and had a rather animated discussion with the umpires and Rajasthan Royals players, before reluctantly leaving the field.
It was clear that Dhoni would face some sanctions and he has been docked 50% of his match fine.