Chennai Super Kings (CSK) made one of the smartest purchases in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) when they secured the services of MS Dhoni. The World Cup-winning India captain has spent 10 seasons with CSK and led them to IPL glory on 3 occasions. Over the years, Dhoni has made Chennai his home away from home.

There is no denying the fact that CSK players and their fans share a special bond he shared with CSK and their fans have been well-documented. The India star has transformed the Chennai-based franchise into one of the most successful in T20 leagues across the globe.

Dhoni was the costliest player at the first-ever IPL auction in 2008. CSK were able to buy Dhoni for ₹9.5 crores without having to go through a lot of trouble. Former IPL COO Sundar Raman, speaking to Gaurav Kapur in a new Spotify Podcast, said CSK had the advantage when it came to bidding for Dhoni as they did not have an ‘icon player’ unlike other teams.

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While Delhi Daredevils picked Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar was Mumbai Indians’ icon player and Sourav Ganguly for Kolkata Knight Riders. However, only CSK and Rajasthan Royals did not have icon players.

Sundar Raman explained, “The only thing sure about the 2008 IPL was that the marquee players had to be assigned to their respective franchises. Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai, Virender Sehwag for Delhi, Yuvraj Singh for Punjab, Sourav Ganguly for Kolkata. But MS Dhoni, who was at the peak of his stardom, was without a home.”

He further added, “So what did he do? He made Chennai his home. At the time, the icon player was not fixed a salary and would be paid 15% more than the highest-paid player on the team. Since CSK didn’t have an icon player, they were a bit freer to bid for the player of their choice. So the Indian T20 captain went to Chennai.”

Meanwhile, Sundar Raman also said Kohli was not the first player to be picked at the auction in the category for uncapped U-19 team players. Virat had entered the IPL auction fresh from the success of the U-19 World Cup where he captained India to glory.

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Raman explained, “Interestingly, that was also the year India had won the U-19 World Cup, just a month before the auction. They were captained by Virat Kohli and we decided to keep a separate draft for the U-19 players a few days after the auction. Virat Kohli was not the first player to be picked in the draft. Delhi passed on to him.”