Dhoni : I never tried to hurt Mustafizur intentionally

MS Dhoni and Mustafizur Rahman collision has not over yet, it seems that blame was on Indian captain. If this would happen then the Indian team management ready to lodge an appeal with the ICC. According to a source on-field umpires Rod Tucker and Enamul Haque had written in their report that Dhoni intentionally hurt Rahman on the field and found Dhoni guilty.

While both the players were shown the footage at a hearing on Friday morning in which Rahman said that he was trying to get out of Dhoni’s way and Dhoni also pointed out that he did not hit him intentionally.

Dhoni was given three options by the ICC on hearing :

• Accept the charges and face punishment.
• Accept charges and request for a smaller fine.
• Contest the charges.

The team director Ravi Shastri, Dhoni, Virat Kholi and manager decided to contest the charges and were prepared to lodge an appeal if Dhoni only penalized.  “Our main defence was Dhoni never tried to intentionally hurt Mustafizur,” said a team source.

According to a statement by the ICC, Pycroft was not convinced that Dhoni couldn’t have avoided the collision and hence it was deemed a Level 2 breach, which falls under ICC rule 2.

“However, my assessment was that Dhoni deliberately pushed and shouldered Mustafizur, which was inappropriate. Even if there was a narrow gap between the runner and the bowler, an experienced Dhoni should have tried to avoid the collision as cricket is a non-contact sport and the players are expected to avoid physical contact at all times,” it said.