Royal Challengers Bangalore secured their place in the IPL 2024 playoffs with a thrilling victory over Chennai Super Kings.
Royal Challengers Bangalore secured a spot in the IPL 2024 playoffs with a thrilling victory over Chennai Super Kings on Saturday. The Faf du Plessis-led team needed a win in their final league game to finish in the Top 4, and the excitement was high at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium as they won by 27 runs. However, their celebrations were criticised when MS Dhoni walked off the pitch without shaking hands after waiting for the RCB players. Videos on social media showed Dhoni waiting while the RCB players continued celebrating before he made his way to the dressing room. Virat Kohli later followed him inside to talk to him.
On Cricbuzz, former England captain Michael Vaughan criticised the RCB players for not taking time to shake hands with Dhoni.
“I can see that with the RCB team. They have a lot of support but they also annoy people. We saw that tonight. I understand they have never won the IPL and are desperate to make it to the eliminations, but you don’t want to be a team everyone wants to lose,” Vaughan said.
Famous commentator Harsha Bhogle also commented, saying that players should always shake hands before celebrating, no matter the occasion.
“I haven’t seen the pictures, but it doesn’t matter. Even if you win a World Cup final, you show your emotions but still shake hands with the opposition. It’s one of the great things about our game. It’s symbolic that our competition is over. We didn’t give an inch to each other, but now it’s over, and we shake hands. Then you can go back and celebrate,” Bhogle said.
Vaughan also mentioned that the match might have been Dhoni’s last in the IPL, and wondered if the RCB players would regret their actions.
“If ever there was a time for a group of players to show awareness, this was it. We don’t know if this was MS Dhoni’s last game, but if it was, those players were celebrating while all they had to do was go and shake his hand. We shake his hand and then celebrate. This is okay. But I wouldn’t want to be an RCB player thinking Dhoni just announced his retirement and we didn’t have the decency to shake his hand first,” the former England captain added.
