MS Dhoni is often regarded as "Captain Cool," the most revered and adored cricketer ever to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL). A man known for his calmness of mind and a very sharp cricketing brain, MS Dhoni has been leading Chennai Super Kings to many triumphs. Yet, no legend can claim to be immune from controversy, and MS Dhoni was no exception in the course of his IPL career. From heated on-field moments to decisions that sparked debates, Dhoni has been in the limelight for reasons more than his outstanding performances. Here are the top five IPL controversies involving MS Dhoni that were in headlines and discussed by fans. IPL match-fixing scandal Image Source: BCCI This might be the biggest controversy in Dhoni's career and one he would never want to be associated with. The 2013 spot-fixing scandal brought an unpleasant chapter to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise. The CSK owner N. Srinivasan's son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyyapan, was questioned for being allegedly linked with bookies. This resulted in the CSK captain, Dhoni, also being thoroughly questioned and being inoculated by one of the lawyers for being dishonest. The same year, three players from the Rajasthan Royals (RR), namely S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila, and Ankeet Chavan, were also charged with allegedly taking part in spot-fixing and hence banned from playing. Therefore, both the teams, CSK and RR, were suspended from the IPL between the seasons of 2016 and 2017. Also Read | Top 5 Highest Runs in a Single Over in Test Cricket Entering the field of play during the match Image Source: BCCI It happened on Match 25 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019, between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). With CSK requiring 8 runs from 3 balls to chase a target of 152, Ben Stokes was bowling for RR while Mitchell Santner was batting for CSK. Stokes bowled a slow dipping full toss, to which Santner played early, misjudging the pace of the ball. As the ball looped high in the air off Stokes's hand, the umpire immediately raised his arm to indicate a no-ball. Upon realizing that it was not called by the square-leg umpire, the straight umpire retrieved his arm to reverse the decision. Even Indian skipper MS Dhoni, sitting on the benches, walked onto the ground fuming to speak his mind with the umpires over the decision. An act that has received several criticisms from fans and even players, who claim this incident is a rare one wherein somebody from the dugout reaches the ground during the match. Clash between Rising Pune Supergiants owners and MS Dhoni Image Source: BCCI Other than on-field issues, MS Dhoni also faced a quiet controversy related to the owner of Rising Pune Supergiants. The blame game didn't fall on Dhoni; it was Goenka who had started it all. On X, Goenka had criticized Dhoni for his performance in one match and questioned his captaincy at that point when he was the RPS captain in 2016. His tweets were like that, suggesting the team was doing great under the new captaincy of Steve Smith. Since RPG sacked Dhoni after the 2016 IPL, saying Dhoni was not so effective in that edition. After Goenka's tweet, there was an ocean of support for MS Dhoni as everybody bashed the owner of Rising Pune Supergiants for his disrespectful comments against the five-time IPL-winning captain, MS Dhoni. Also Read | Top 10 Richest Cricketers in the World : Net Worth Conflict of interest involving "Rhiti Sports" during IPL 2013 Image Source: BCCI Rhiti Sports was a company that used to manage the captain of the Indian Cricket Team. The company also dealt with players like Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja, who played with Dhoni for both India and CSK. At that time, Dhoni's conflict of interest with the company became a major topic in the media. The Economic Times carried out investigations, which say that Dhoni had a 15% stake in Rhiti Sports. That means any profit the sports management company was to make from managing Raina and Jadeja, 15% of it would have gone to Dhoni. The company finally came out with an official statement saying that this cricketer held the share of 15% only for a month and it was all done only to get clearance of over one year old outstanding clearance. It is reported in The Times of India that the shares were allotted at a price of Rs. 10 per share, but the question remains what was the price at which they were returned. Comment on the lack of spark in youngsters during IPL 2020 Image Source: BCCI The IPL 2020 was the first time when CSK did not qualify for the playoffs. The team's performance was very poor and many predicted that 2020 could be the last IPL season for MS Dhoni but that did not happen. CSK bounced back in 2021 and they did it in style. They sealed the IPL title for the fourth time defeating their biggest rivals Kolkata Knight Riders in the final. After setbacks of CSK in 2020, Dhoni himself could not refrain from declaring, "You don't want to chop and change. Insecurity is something you didn't want to prevail in the dressing room. Fair enough, this season we were not really there. Also the youngsters, we did not see the spark to push the guys. But what this result has done is give those youngsters a chance in the rest of the tournament." He attempted to say something else but the media gave it a different meaning as they correlated the statement with Ruturaj Gaiwkad. But Gaikwad became the biggest cause for CSK to emerge as title winners in the year 2021 as the young batter won the Orange Cap IPL 2021 for scoring 636 runs in 16 matches. Conclusion MS Dhoni is known for his calm nature and incredible leadership in cricket. Even a legend like him has been part of some controversies during his IPL journey. These incidents show that cricket is not just about skills but also about emotions, decisions, and handling tough moments. Dhoni is truly special because he can rise above such situations and stay focused on the game. While these controversies may spark debates, they also remind us of the intense passion and high stakes that IPL brings to players and fans alike.