Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah on Tuesday (October 12) revealed that MS Dhoni is not charging for his role as a mentor of the Indian cricket team at the upcoming T20 World Cup.
While announcing the squad last month, Shah had confirmed that Dhoni will play the role of a mentor during the showpiece tournament.
“MS Dhoni is not charging any honorarium for his services as the mentor of Indian team for the T20 World Cup,” Jay Shah said, as quoted by ANI.
Speaking to PTI, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly also disclosed that Dhoni won’t take a penny for his services.
“Dhoni will not charge anything to mentor the Indian team,” Ganguly said.
MS Dhoni, who led India to the inaugural T20 World Cup triumph in 2007, bid adieu international cricket in August last year. However, the 40-year-old has continued to feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Dhoni is currently leading CSK in the second phase of IPL 2021 and he will join the Indian team following the completion of the T20 league. Notably, Super Kings have qualified for the IPL 2021 final and will take on the winner of the second qualifier between DC and KKR in the summit clash on October 15.
Earlier, Jay Shah had said that the decision to make Dhoni the mentor was taken after he met the latter in Dubai before the start of the second leg of IPL 2021.
“He was okay with my decision and agreed to be a Team Mentor of Team India for the T20 World Cup only. I am glad that MS (Dhoni) has accepted the BCCI’s offer and he is keen to contribute to the national team once again. MS will work closely with Ravi Shastri as well as other support staff to provide support and direction to Team India,” the BCCI secretary had said.
Jay Shah then approached skipper Virat Kohli, vice-captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Ravi Shastri who agreed to the proposal.
“I spoke to the captain and vice-captain, as well as Ravi Shastri. They all are on the same page, so that’s why this matter has reached this conclusion.”
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 20021 is scheduled to get underway on October 17 with the qualifying rounds. India will begin their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai on October 24.
