What if it was Dhoni's final match? RCB players under fire for neglecting to shake his hand

MS Dhoni avoids shaking hands with RCB Players, CSK vs RCB : In a memorable IPL match on May 18, Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Chennai Super Kings by 27 runs securing their spot in the IPL Playoffs. After the match fans were puzzled by MS Dhoni's demeanor, they couldn't understand the feelings of Mahendra Singh Dhoni who is known for being calm and cool all the time. Speculation arose that this might be his last IPL match and fans felt he didn't deserve to end his career this way.

A video of Dhoni went viral, showing him returning to the dressing room without shaking hands with the RCB players, leading to criticism of the Bengaluru team.

What actually happened was that this match was crucial for both teams to qualify for the playoffs. RCB made a remarkable comeback winning 6 consecutive matches after only 1 win in the first 8. After defeating CSK, the RCB players were busy in celebrating their historic win.

Dhoni waited for them to finish so he could shake hands. After waiting for some time he returned to the dressing room with a sad face. However, he did shake hands with members of the RCB support staff before heading to the CSK dressing room.

After the match, MS Dhoni was standing to shake hands with the RCB players but he made them wait and then after some time he left. No matter who it is, one should not disrespect the legend.#Dhoni pic.twitter.com/IGtVtc0n6y

— Dushyant Kumar (@DushyantKrRawat) May 20, 2024

Virat Kohli Followed Distraught MS Dhoni to the dressing room

Virat Kohli considers MS Dhoni his idol and often seeks his advice. In a recently surfaced video, Kohli is seen following Dhoni into the CSK dressing room to meet him.

Dhoni didn't come on ground for handshake
Then kohli goes in the csk camp to meet him pic.twitter.com/FkEfHhJzrD

— Vir8 (@wronggfooted) May 19, 2024

Another heartwarming moment came from former RCB player Chris Gayle, who visited the CSK dressing room after the match to meet Dhoni and his West Indies former teammate DJ Bravo. Gayle even managed to get a CSK jersey, as seen in a video shared by the RCB handle.

He took to Instagram to share images of his meeting with Dhoni and Bravo and wrote: "Was great to catch up with the 2 Champions Mahi & DJ Bravo absolutely love and respect."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Chris Gayle ???? (@chrisgayle333)

"You shake hands first and then celebrate..."

Former England player Michael Vaughan also commented on the incident of Dhoni walking off to the dressing room without shaking hands. He said that if this was Dhoni's last match, the Bengaluru players would regret not shaking hands with such a legend. Vaughan believes the RCB players could have had the decency to delay their celebrations after defeating CSK to greet the great MS Dhoni, who might have played his last IPL match.

“If there ever was a time for a group of players to show awareness. We don’t know but if that was MS Dhoni’s last game and those players run around the ground doing handstands when all they need is to wait and meet the legend. We have to just go and shake his hands and then we can do a few cartwheels and handstands,” the former England captain said.

“This is an iconic player. I wouldn’t want to be an RCB player tomorrow morning thinking, ‘Wait a minute, MS Dhoni has announced retirement and we didn’t have the decency to go and shake his hand first’,” he added.