Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni enjoyed a scintillating career in which he dominated both as batter and wicketkeeper. He also changed the dynamics of Indian cricket in his 13-year-long career.
During his sting as Team India skipper, Dhoni achieved almost everything as India won all the major ICC titles. He guided his troops to win the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, followed by the 50-over World Cup triumph in 2011 and the Champions Trophy victory in 2013.
Not only at the international level, but MSD even accomplished huge success in the premier domestic T20 tournament, i.e. the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Dhoni played an instrumental role behind Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) splendid success in the cash-rich league. Under his inspirational leadership, CSK won the coveted trophy in 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021.
In 2008, Dhoni was roped in by CSK for $1.5 million – the then highest amount for any player. Notably, the Ranchi-born superstar has since never entered the IPL auction. He played for now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) for two seasons in 2016 and 2017 when the Super Kings were suspended from the competition for two years.
Dhoni was extremely popular amongst all franchises, and his brand value can be acknowledged by the fact that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner Shah Rukh Khan had once even offered to sell off his pants in order to buy Dhoni in the IPL players’ auction. It was ahead of the IPL auction in 2018 when the Ranchi-lad was supposed to return to CSK after playing for Pune.
“Yaar main toh usko apna pajama bech ke bhi kharid lun, wo aaye toh auction mein. (Brother, I can even sell my pants to buy Dhoni. He has to come for the auction for that),” SRK was quoted as saying by Sportswallah back then.
Although, SRK’s wish couldn’t be fulfilled as Dhoni returned to CSK in 2018 and led them to a title victory. Notably, Dhoni has been retained by CSK ahead of the mega-auction for IPL 2022.
