Did RCB’s ‘celebrations’ lead to MS Dhoni handshake fiasco? Experts are not satisfied

Royal Challengers Bengaluru booked their spot in the IPL 2024 playoffs with a sensational win 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 palpable at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium as they won the match by 27 runs. However, the players’ celebrations came under some criticism after MS Dhoni walked off the field without shaking hands after waiting for the RCB players. Videos on social media showed that Dhoni waited for the RCB players who continued to celebrate before heading to the dressing room without shaking hands. Virat Kohli later followed him inside to speak to the veteran star.

During a discussion about Cricbuzzformer England cricket team captain Michael Vaughan criticized 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 push people away. We saw a lot of that tonight. I understand they have never been in a position where they have won the IPL and they have desperately made it to the knockouts, but you don’t wants to be one of those teams that everyone wants to lose,” Vaughan said.

Famous commentator Harsha Bhogle also chimed in and said that regardless of the occasion, the players should shake hands before continuing with the celebrations.

“I haven’t seen the photos, but that doesn’t matter. You can win a World Cup final. You show your emotions, but you still shake your opponent’s hand. It’s one of the great things about our game. It’s a symbol of the fact that that now our antagonism is over. We have not given an inch to each other, but now our antagonism is over. It was just a game and now we shake hands.

Vaughan also spoke about the possibility of the match ending up being Dhoni’s last in the IPL and questioned whether the RCB players will regret the decision.

“If ever there was a time for a group of players to show awareness, this was it. We don’t know, but if this was MS Dhoni’s last game, these players ran around the floor doing handstands while all they had to do was go – Wait a second. The legend is there. We have to shake his hand and then we can do somersaults and handstands. But I wouldn’t want to be an RCB player thinking about Dhoni. He has just announced his retirement and we didn’t have the decency to shake his hand first,” the former England captain added.