Former India captain MS Dhoni is known for his humility and loyalty. Recently, Dhoni promoted his childhood friend’s sports company with new bat during a training session won many hearts.
However, turns out, it is not the first time the CSK skipper showed big hearts for his friends. In the 2019 World Cup, Dhoni refused bat sponsorship deals worth crores to play with a bat that had the logo of BAS, a local sports equipment manufacturer.
BAS owner, Somi Kohli, in an interview, revealed that Dhoni went against his family and friends’ advice and used the bat manufacturer’s sticker instead, as a payback for the help he got during his struggling days as a cricketer.
Noatbly, BAS had sponsored Dhoni’s first cricket kit in 1998 when the CSK skipper was a young and struggling cricketer.
“Dhoni did not mention any money. He just said ‘put your stickers on my bats and send them across’. I tried to convince him, ‘You’re letting go of such a lucrative contract’. He refused crores of rupees worth of contract. I requested his wife Sakshi, his father, mother. Even told his CA and Paramjit from Ranchi. They all went to his home before the World Cup. But he said ‘No… it is my decision,” the BAS owner recalled in an interview with Saurav Yaduvanshi from Sports Launchpad.
MS Dhoni has begun his preparations for the IPL 2024 and will be seen leading the defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the upcoming season.