MS Dhoni
Twitter/Cricket World Cup

Indian legend Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja kept the Indian side on the hunt as the Men in Blue chased the total of 240 runs posted by New Zealand at the Old Trafford ground during the first semi-final of 2019 Cricket World Cup. Unfortunately, they could not finish off the game and India lost by 18 runs.

However, a story started doing rounds on Twitter when a video about the legality of the ball on which Dhoni got out emerged on social media. The video showed that there were six fielders outside the 30-yard circle when the delivery was bowled to Dhoni. While trying to pick up a couple of runs Dhoni got run-out by a throw from Martin Guptill who was fielding outside the circle.

Now, as per ICC rules, during the third Powerplay, only five players are allowed outside the 30-yard circle. This resulted in a widespread rage over the standard of umpiring among the Indian cricket fans. There were many posts that claimed it was an illegal ball and the umpire was responsible for Dhoni's wicket.

But, the fact is that a player can get run-out on a no-ball which many pointed out.

One of the fans wrote on Twitter, "Just before MSD got run-out, six fielders were outside the circle. Don't know whether it is umpiring fault or GPS error BTW, it was still a runout."

In response to this claim, many fans stated that if Dhoni knew that it was a no-ball then Dhoni would not have tried to take a double as it would have been a free-hit the next ball.

One of the fans wrote on twitter, " NZ had 6 fielders outside the 30-yard circle but only 5 are permitted, as per the rules,of the BALL BEFORE DHONI WAS OUT Which means THE BALL THAT GOT DHONI RUNOUT WOULD HAVE BEEN A FREE-HIT & things could have been different."

India lost the match to the Black Caps as India's top-order collapsed too cheaply after which Dhoni and Jadeja tried their level best. But the damage was already made and the Kiwis emerged victorious. They will meet the winner of the Australia-England semi-final at Lords on July 14.