When MS Dhoni was first of many ‘bidding wars’ in 2008, recalls IPL auctioneer Richard Madley

One of the very few times that former India captain and current Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni was in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction pool was back.

In 2008 ahead of the inaugural edition of the T20 league. When Dhoni’s name came up at the auction, it triggered one of the first ‘bidding wars’ with CSK coming out on top.

Former IPL auctioneer Richard Madley in a candid conversation with Team India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recalled the 2008 auction and how Dhoni started a bidding war after Shane Warne was lapped up by Rajasthan Royals. The stocks of Dhoni had skyrocketed after he had led India to a win in the 2007 T20 World Cup title.

“For the next 10 years, I watched Rajasthan Royals be the coolest bidders in the room. They never got excited, Manoj Badale was just cool and a pattern started to emerge. Then out of the bag came the man himself, the ultimate all-rounder Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and there we saw the first bidding war of many in the IPL auctions,” auctioneer Richard Madley told Ravichandran Ashwin.

In the 2008 auction, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings placed a bid for Dhoni. Chennai did not have an icon player while Mumbai did in Sachin Tendulkar. Dhoni was lapped up by CSK at USD 1.5 million after a fierce bidding war.

“I remember the second player coming out of the bag that day was Shane Warne. I thought okay here’s Warnie and this will be interesting, his base price was I think around US$400,000. That’s what he sold for at his base price to Rajasthan Royals and I thought at that time that was a smart move. It’s a smart move because at the end of his career but someone remarkably successful, experienced, charismatic and who was a leader. They bought Shane Warne and what did Rajasthan Royals do in IPL one, they won it,” Madley recalled.

In the following years, Chennai went on to become one of the most successful franchises in the history of the league led by Dhoni. In Chennai, Dhoni is worshipped as ‘Thala’.

Despite having retired from international cricket, Dhoni’s stocks have not dipped. In 2021, Dhoni again led CSK to IPL triumph. His form with the bat has not been up to the mark, but his leadership is still sharp and that is what makes him special.

“On one of the tables called Kolkata and an interesting crowd sitting on the table there and after the auction a journalist came up to me and asked how did it feel to be in the room with Shah Rukh Khan. Who is Shah Rukh Khan I inquired. Honestly, I didn’t know. The world of Bollywood was a completely new to me. I think that’s a good thing because had I suddenly thought, ‘Oh my goodness, me, I am in the company Indian royalty, there are Bollywood stars, there are people who are multi-billionaires’, it would have got to me. But I didn’t and I treated them all equal,” Madley told Ashwin.