‘Dhoni punched a screen…’: Harbhajan on when MSD’s ‘dream’ was ‘shattered’

There are a number of iconic characteristics that tend to be associated with MS Dhoni’s career and personality. The veteran wicketkeeper-batter is among the most worshipped figures in the sport largely due to the extraordinary success he has experienced as captain of India and of the Chennai Super Kings. Chief among these characteristics would be the fact that Dhoni almost never seems to lose his temper on the field.
However, there have been moments when even Dhoni couldn’t help but show his emotions; this seemed to have happened the last time fans saw him the CSK shirt in the IPL. Dhoni’s last match thus far in the tournament was a spectacular final group match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
RCB managed to not just beat CSK on that but also beat the considerable odds stacked against them to steal the final playoff spot from the latter in dramatic circumstances. The RCB players were hence celebrating wildly after the last ball, making them take a few seconds longer to shake hands with the opposition players than what would’ve normally been the case. In this period, Dhoni could be seen storming back to the dressing room after initially being in front of the line of CSK players.
Harbhajan Singh, Dhoni’s long-time former India teammate who also played for a couple of seasons with CSK, was in the commentary box for that match. The former spinner said that Dhoni had punched a screen on his way to the dressing room. “RCB were celebrating and look, they were well within their rights to do that, the way they had won and qualified,” he said on Sports Yaari.
“I was watching from upstairs and saw that they were celebrating, (CSK) had formed up in a line to shake hands with them. It took them a little while and by the time RCB were done with their celebration (Dhoni) went back inside and he punched a screen that comes before you reach the dressing room. It’s ok; this happens in sports.”
RCB had taken only a few seconds longer than usual to shake hands with the opposition, and Harbhajan said that the circumstances of the victory meant that one couldn’t blame them if they had celebrated for even longer.
“Even if they had celebrated for a few minutes, it’s their right. He walked off, but fine, that’s his thought process at the time. That day maybe he felt that his dream of winning this match and then winning the IPL and retiring with the trophy got shattered,” said Harbhajan.
RCB had gone into the game on the back of a stunning turnaround, winning their previous five games on the trot after losing six games on the trot. CSK held the final playoff spot and the only way RCB could go through was if they won on that day by a significant margin, making the game a virtual knockout match in itself with the odds stacked against the latter.
An explosive 47 off 29 from Virat Kohli and 54 off 39 by captain Faf du Plessis, helped along by big finishes powered by Rajat Patidar, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik and Glenn Maxwell, helped RCB put up a score of 218/5 batting first. CSK would’ve qualified, regardless of whether they win or lose, if they managed to score more than 200 due to their superior net run rate. However, RCB remarkably managed restrict CSK to 191/7, thus going through to the playoffs despite being bottom of the table halfway through the league stage.