MS Dhoni has played 12 Indian Premier League seasons with CSK since the inaugural season.
Former India World Cup-winning captain, MS Dhoni completed 14 years since the first time he was roped in by Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The franchise celebrated the special day with fans on social media.
Over the last 14 years, Dhoni has played 12 Indian Premier League (IPL) seasons with CSK. He has led the franchise to 11 playoffs, 9 finals, and 4 IPL title wins overall.
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The Jharkhand cricketer is loved by the local fans in Chennai and they fondly call him 'Thala'. The bond between Dhoni, the adopted son of Chennai, and the CSK fans has grown over the years.
"7 + 7 years of Dencoming! #THA7A #WhistlePodu," wrote Super Kings on Twitter. They posted another clip in which Dhoni can be seen whistling and wrote, "The First Whistle! #14YearsOfThala #WhistlePodu @msdhoni".
It was late VB Chandrasekhar, the manager of the CSK for the first three seasons, who bought Dhoni in the first IPL season for a winning bid of $1.5 million. He had opened up about his discussion with N Srinivasan before going after Dhoni in the auction.
"Before the auctions in 2008, Mr. N Srinivasan asked me, “Who are you going to pick?” I said Dhoni. He asked, “Why not Virender Sehwag?”
"I said Sehwag would not provide me with the kind of inspiration that the crowd will be looking forward to, whereas Dhoni is a captain, a wicket-keeper, and a batsman who can change the match situation on his own. So I asked him if I could look for him,” Chandrasekhar was quoted saying to Sportskeeda.