After former England wicketkeeper Paul Nixon's tweets alleging match-mixing in the third One Day International between India and Pakistan and accusing the latter of losing deliberately, now the Man of the Match (MOM) award for the same game to India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has come under scanner, says a report in The Nation.
“Insiders have accused the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of influencing the jury of commentators to name Dhoni for the award for the match that India won by 10 runs,” adds the report.
Headlines Today has claimed that a senior and noted commentator received a call from a senior BCCI functionary and was clearly told to ensure Dhoni was named Man of the Match. The commentator consequently proposed Dhoni's name during the jury meeting and though there were protests, the one who proposed Dhoni's name was influential enough to ensure the decision was taken as per the BCCI's diktat, even though the announcement raised several eyebrows.
While India successfully defended a 167-run target, there were other strong contenders for the award. Despite being India's top-scorer, Dhoni had managed only 36 and was disappointing in the field, even dropping Pakistan captain Misbahul Haq and gave away a lot of extras.
The incident raises questions as to why the BCCI has been backing Dhoni unconditionally and points to a connection between persisting with Dhoni and his being captain of the IPL team Chennai Super Kings, owned by BCCI president N Srinivasan.
Times of India also quoted the sources saying Dhoni wasn't the frontrunner for the award but pipped others to the post at the last minute. Sources said the commentators who voted for Dhoni claimed that the choice was unanimous. However, one former cricketer who voted in favour of Dhoni told TOI that Dhoni was given the award to boost his morale at a time when the time wasn't doing well.
