Indian cricket’s most successful captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni started from humble beginnings and after a lot of hustle, he created a legacy for himself in cricket. The boy from Jharkhand who had an unorthodox style of wicketkeeping coupled with a flamboyant batting style and sports silky long hair hardly knew what is next to unfold in his career as a cricketer.
The 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa which was the first of its kind marked the beginning of the Dhoni era for the Indian cricket team. His young battalion fought fearlessly throughout the tournament. They were eventually crowned champions after they defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in the finals.
Dhoni’s legacy continued from there as they went on to achieve almost everything, starting from number 1 rank in Tests, 2011 ICC World Cup win and also Champions Trophy glory in 2013. However, his charisma goes beyond international cricket as his achievements as captain is no less in Indian Premier League (IPL) with Chennai Super Kings. Hailed as one of the most consistent and successful sides in the tournament history led by the evergreen MS Dhoni who inspired CSK to win the title in 2010, 2011 and also in 2018.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni And The IPL
However, going back to 2008 when the IPL inaugural auctions have held the bond between CSK and Dhoni was built. The CSK management was eager to get hold of Indian wicketkeeper-batsman as they paid a whopping $1.5m on Dhoni. That day they believe they showed in their investment was the foundation on which the love story between the player and the club was built.
Going back to that day there were plenty of suitors for MS Dhoni apart from CSK. If they would have decided against going for such a huge sum that decision could have drastically changed the history which followed later. Charu Sharma former CEO of Royal Challengers Bangalore reminisces the day of auction when they went up against CSK in a tight bidding war for MS Dhoni.
In that scenario had RCB used up all their remaining money on the player then Dhoni would have ended up in Bangalore. Sharma felt that it would have been foolish at that point of time considering the backlash that would have come from the fans had Dhoni failed.
‘IPL NOT A ONE-MAN SHOW’- EX-RCB CEO ON WHY THEY STOPPED BIDDING FOR DHONI
“It would have looked a tad foolish,” Charu explained his stance behind eventually dropping out of the bidding war. “Imagine the backlash in Chennai (CSK picked MSD for $1.5m) if MS Dhoni fails (ed). We knew early, the way the bid was going that it was not on for us. This is not a one-man show, it is a team game. Suppose he gets out for a duck in a couple of matches, supposes he fails. Fans were are going to turn around and ask ‘Was he really worth so much’?” he concluded.
While the RCB fans can only fantasize about having someone like Mahendra Singh Dhoni in their team, and since then CSK and RCB have taken completely different routes. CSK have achieved success multiple times under Dhoni’s shrewd captainship whereas despite having Virat Kohli and his competitive spirit the Bengaluru outfit hasn’t got going in recent times. The last time RCB qualified for IPL playoffs was back in 2016. It is funny how some decisions can change the whole trajectory of the scenario.
