Unarguably, MS Dhoni is the most converted figure for all through his retired life from the international arena four years back. Not that he is frequently seen on the ground these days as he is just a mere active player in the Indian Premier League but his franchise has retained him for Rs 4 crores before IPL 2025. With regard to his presence on the ground, the image under no circumstances has made any adverse incentive to the player’s market value. In fact, Dhoni’s off-ground value has been surging even more into the first half of 2024.
India and the CSK icon Dhoni have even outstripped all Bollywood greats in terms of brand endorsements in the first-half of the year 2024, that of popular figures like Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, as per a recent proposal report by the TAM Media Research, joint venture between USA’s Nielsen and UK’s Kantar.
He joined the likes of Gulf Oil, Cleartrip, Master Card, Citroen, Lay’s, Garuda Aerospace, and recently Eurogrip Tyres brand association, which is expected.
According to the report, Dhoni got through 42 brand endorsements in the aggregate in the first-half of 2024. The tally goes one more than that of Amitabh and 8 more than that of Shah Rukh’s.
Dhoni relinquished the captaincy of CSK after taking this franchise to its fifth IPL title in 2023. He transferred the mantle to Ruturaj Gaikwad, but the latter’s debut stint under the captaincy as CSK’s leader saw the team failing to qualify for the play-offs.
Keeping aside the IPL 2025 mega auction, this uncapped former India captain of 43 years has been retained keeping in mind the new rule for the IPL, which enables franchises to retain players in the uncapped category if they have not played international cricket for five years.
Other than Dhoni, Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Matheesha Pathirana and Shivam Dube were also retained from CSK embarking on their journey for acquiring the sixth title.
The IPL mega auction took place on November 24 and 25 where each and every franchise looked to build a strong squad for the upcoming IPL season.
