Like many other cricketers, Mahendra Singh Dhoni joined the 2008 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction due to having no home team. His move changed his future and he was called the adopted son of Chennai. He was bought by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Rs 9.5 crore. It was the biggest bid for that season. Chennai gave Dhoni a big price to buy and Dhoni never disappointed CSK after that either. Dhoni has won the title for Chennai three times. Dhoni was at his peak after winning the 2007 T20 World Cup and Chennai bought him at a great price. Recently former IPL COO Sundar Raman revealed how CSK was able to spend such a huge amount for Dhoni.
In the ’22 Yarn ‘show podcast with Gaurav Kapoor, the former IPL COO stated that at that time the icon player was not set a salary and had to be paid 15 per cent more than the highest paid player on the team. Because Chennai did not have a single icon player, they were slightly more free to bid for the player of their choice.
Rajasthan and Chennai did not have icon players like
Kings XI Punjab had Yuvraj Singh, Mumbai Indians Sachin Tendulkar, Kolkata Knight Riders had Sourav Ganguly. Sundar Raman said, “The only thing certain in the 2008 IPL was that icon players would be appointed for their teams. Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai, Virender Sehwag for Delhi, Yuvraj Singh for Punjab, Rahul Dravid for Bangalore and Sourav Ganguly for Kolkata. Only Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were the two teams in that tournament that did not have any icon players.
Dhoni did not have any home team, Dhoni, who was
at the height of stardom at that time, had no team of his own. So he made Chennai his home. “He further said,” Dhoni was the most expensive bought player in Chennai. In this way, the captain of the Indian T20 came to Chennai, because there was no additional charge or GST on them. The record money spent on Dhoni proved Dhoni a game changer.
Chennai placed a big bet on Dhoni
where the rest of the teams gave their marquee player 15% more than their team’s most expensive player. At the same time, CSK placed the biggest bet on Dhoni in the IPL bid.
The three titles Chennai won under Dhoni’s captaincy were the
2010 and 2011 Chennai Super Kings winning the IPL title. Chennai team, which was out of the tournament for two years, returned again in 2018 and Dhoni won the title for the third time. Chennai also reached the finals in 2019, but lost to Mumbai Indians by just one run in the final match.
Apart from Dhoni, Raina is also
considered as the most competitive team of the tournament since 2008 along with Chennai Super Kings. Since 2008, Dhoni is the full-time captain of Chennai Super Kings. He has maintained a good relationship with the team and Chennai fans. His future in the national team is doubtful, but it is sure that he will remain the captain of the Chennai team. Apart from Dhoni, Suresh Raina is another Chennai player who has been with the team since the beginning. Raina has also captained CSK in Dhoni’s absence.
