Daryl Harper accuses Dhoni of constantly disrespecting the game

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and former ICC umpire Daryl Harper share a turbulent historyu00a0And the Australian umpire who had to retire from the game after severe criticism from the Indian players following the 2011Kingston Test has slammed Dhoni for blatantly and repeatedly disrespecting the Spirit of Cricket Itrsquos a common refrain from the former elite umpire who had in 2011 also stated that the 39Indians were above laws of cricket39 He had at that time said the ICC39s failure to take any action against Dhoni for criticising his decisions in the first Test against West Indies reflected the advent of quotselective managementquot in cricket Reacting to the controversial decision against Jonny Bairstow Harper believes Englandrsquos middleorder batsman was not out when the fielder held his catch deflected through Gautam Gambhirrsquos helmet during the Mumbai Test ldquoNew accolades for MS Dhoni the India skipper refused to withdraw an appeal when replays clearly showed that the ball had made contact with Gambhirrsquos helmet before he completed a catch to dismiss Bairstowrdquo the Dawn quoted Harper as saying Former umpire Daryl Harper has accused MS Dhoni of repeatedly breaching the laws of cricket PicAFP ldquoIt is a clear breach of the laws of cricket and any national captain worth his weight in salt would have immediately withdrawn the appeal and allowed Bairstow to continue his innings But Dhoni is a repeated offender when it comes to ignoring the Spirit of Cricketrdquo he added ldquoAfter the first Test didnrsquot Dhoni make a thinly veiled disparaging remark about the umpires when he claimed that India had been forced to take more than ten wickets in Englandrsquos second inningsrdquo the Australian said Harper added ldquoIn Jamaica in 2011 this was the same captain who mumbled something obscure about being back in his hotel room earlier if the correct decisions had been made What does the Spirit of Cricket mean when it refers to respect for opponents officials and the gamerdquo ldquoClearly Dhoni is above the game but his history of disrespect for the game continues to buildrdquo he said with his tone dripping with sarcasm ldquoFor refusing to allow Bairstow to continue I expect that Dhoni will now be felicitated for his gesture Maybe it will be an MBE Member of the Bullies Empire or simply an OBE Often Belligerent to Everyonerdquo he added ldquoAfter all MS Dhoni is the Indian captain and India does provide an estimated 70 of the worldrsquos cricket revenue doesnrsquot it The whole thing does have a distinctive ring about it Itrsquos another case of too many Indians and not enough chiefsrdquo he concluded Harper had clashed with Dhoni during Indiarsquos 2011 tour of West Indies and subsequently retired from umpiring following some heavy criticism from the Indian team after the first cricket Test between India and the West Indies At the time he had admitted that he committed errors while officiating in the first Test between India and the West Indies but said Indian players too did not play in the spirit of the game Harper had sarcastically said that he should not have applied the laws of cricket to them quotI didn39t have my best game of the year but referee Jeff Crowe who observed every ball calculated that I had managed to get 94 of all my decisions correct That analysis was confirmed from headquarters in our Dubai officequot Harper said about the seriesopener which India won by 63 runs