One of the most talked about relationship in Indian Cricket is that of former Indian skipper MS Dhoni and former BCCI President N Srinivasan. However, Rajdeep Sardesai’s book Democracy XIunveils that there was a numerous occasion the duo arm twisted laws for their own benefits.
The association of MSD with N Srinivasan started in the auction of the 2008 IPL, where the former was chosen as the marquee player of the team. Also, MS was made the Vice President of N Srinivasan’s company India Cements and also had a plentiful stake in the company. Further, Srinivasan was the Chairman of the ICC as well as BCCI while MS Dhoni was the captain of the Indian team.
Talking about his relationship with Srinivasan, Dhoni once said, “I really don’t care what people say, I found Srinivasan as someone who was always there to help cricketers.”
CSK was cornered with various controversies but Dhoni’s loyalty to the former BCCI chief is exhibiting. However, talking about the same, a BCCI official said, “Make no mistake, Dhoni knows which way the wind is blowing, he knows how to maneuver his way through the BCCI’s corridors of power when required.”
However, Lalit Modi admitted that during his time as the IPL commissioner, there have been several instances of Srini arm twisted IPL rules to retain his icon player in the 2010 edition. He said, “It was illegal since Icon Player status was meant to be only for the first three years of the IPL and yet Srinivasan was allowed to get away with it.”
In his defense of his move to restore Dhoni as Indian skipper back in 2012, Srinivasan said, “Yes, it is true that I vetoed the decision to drop Dhoni as captain. How can you drop someone as captain within a year of his lifting the World Cup?What you call favoritism I say is my respect for a top class cricketer’s achievements.”
According to the revelations made by Democracy XI, MS Dhoni is also known to be a shrewd businessman who deals in ferocious consultations financially. A Kolkata-based sports marketing consultant Jeet Banerjee, who once managed the cricketer’s contracts and with whom Dhoni fought a messy court battle, argues that the Mahi is hard-nosed in contractual agreements.
Banerjee claimed, “Don’t get taken in by his soft-spoken nature. When it comes to financial dealings, MS Dhoni can be ruthless. He even put the Ranchi police on to me and my family when we fell out.”
