N. Chennai Super Kings, a franchise owned by Srinivasan’s India Cements, bought Mahendra Singh Dhoni for $1.5 million in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction in 2008. South India’s leading cement company had placed the highest bid for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s then new poster boy and captain of the ODI team and who led India to ICC T20 World Cup winners.
Speaking at Sportstar’s first South Sports Conclave, Srinivasan revealed how CSK bought Dhoni. “I missed buying the first two players in the IPL auction. I had asked former Tamil Nadu Test cricketer VB Chandrasekhar to take over. I wanted MS Dhoni at any cost.
He said, ‘The reason I had confidence in me was because I thought other people didn’t know arithmetic. They told us that they would give another 10 per cent more for Icon Player, as they all wanted an Icon Player. Punjab wanted Yuvraj Singh, Delhi Virender Sehwag, Bengaluru Rahul Dravid and Mumbai Sachin Tendulkar.
He also asked me, ‘But I said no. My father taught me some arithmetic. I knew if 1.5 million out of 5 went to the icon player, what would you have left to buy the remaining 22 players. Dhoni’s bidding started at a base price of US$400,000. When the bids crossed USD 900,000, only two teams Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings were on the ground. At that time teams could only buy all players for a maximum of $ 5 million.
Srinivasan said, ‘Mumbai suddenly made a bid of $ 1.5 million for Dhoni. Then he realized that he would have to pay 10 percent more than the costliest player. After that they withdrew. This is how MS Dhoni came to Chennai. It was 100 percent arithmetic. There is no other reason why we should get him (Dhoni). The concern of other franchises getting their favorite player was more than their arithmetic.
Dhoni was retained by the Super Kings for Rs 12 crore before the 2022 players’ auction. Soon after Chennai Super Kings won the IPL in October last year, Srinivasan had said that Dhoni will always be a part of not only the franchise, but the city of Chennai as well. Srinivasan had said, ‘There is no CSK without Dhoni and there is no Dhoni without CSK’.
MS Dhoni has led the Chennai Super Kings from the very first season in 2008. During this, he made the team champion four times. In IPL, CSK has made it to the playoffs every season except in 2020 and 2022.