MS Dhoni was bought by CSK for $1.5 million in IPL 2008 auction.
However, when MS Dhoni’s name came up for auction, it was a fight amongst all the original franchises to get their hands on the newly crowned T20 World Cup-winning captain of the Indian team. But in the end, the fight came down to CSK and Mumbai Indians (MI).
Speaking at Sportstar's first-ever South Sports Conclave, Srinivasan revealed how CSK signed Dhoni outbidding MI.
"At the IPL auctions, I missed the first two picks. I had asked V.B. Chandrasekhar - former Test cricketer from Tamil Nadu and aggressive opening bat - to hold the baton. At any price, I wanted MS Dhoni. The reason I felt very confident was I felt the other people did not know arithmetic. They had said that they will give 10 percent [15 percent] more to the icon player because they all wanted an icon.
Punjab wanted Yuvraj Singh, Delhi wanted Virender Sehwag, Bangalore Rahul Dravid, Mumbai Sachin Tendulkar. They asked me, I said no. My father taught me some arithmetic. I figured out if 1.5 million out of five went to the icon players - then what are you left with to get the rest of the 22 players,” Srinivasan said.
Dhoni's bidding started from the base price of US$400,000 and by the time the bids crossed the US$900,000 mark, only two teams were in the fray, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.
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Srinivasan continued: "Suddenly, Mumbai was bidding up to 1.5 million for Dhoni. Then they realized that they have to give the icon player 10 percent [15 percent] more than what they give the most expensive player. They said 3.5 million, everything gone, and they collapsed. And that is how MS Dhoni came to Chennai. It was 100 percent arithmetic. No other reason why we got him [Dhoni]. The anxiety to get their [other franchises] favorite player was greater than their arithmetic."
Since then, MS Dhoni has been retained every time and was the first player picked by CSK when they returned to IPL in 2018 after a two-year suspension. Dhoni was retained by Super Kings ahead of the 2022 players' auction for Rs 12 crore.
After Dhoni-led CSK to the IPL 2021 title, Srinivasan had said that Dhoni would always be "part and parcel" of not just the franchise, but also the city of Chennai.
"There is no CSK without Dhoni and there is no Dhoni without CSK," Srinivasan had said.
Under Dhoni, CSK has made the playoffs in every IPL it has been a part of, barring 2020 and 2022.
(Sportstar inputs)