XtraTime Web Desk: Everyone has seen in this World Cup that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is using bats with logos of different bat makers. The former India skipper has mostly used ‘Reebok’ or ‘Spartan’ logo during the early days of his career, but in the ongoing World Cup he has been using the bats with the logo of SS, SG & BAS.
During India’s last two games against England and Bangladesh, Dhoni used the the bat with SG logo on it, but in the later part of the innings he switched his choice to BAS logo bat when he was looking for some big hits.
It has now been revealed that Dhoni is playing using bats with different company logos as a goodwill gesture for when they have helped him in various stages of his career and is not charging a dime for it.
“It’s a fact that he has been using different bats with different brandings, but he is not charging them. He wants to say thank to them for helping in various stages of his career,” Dhoni’s manager Arun Pandey told Mumbai Mirror.
“He does not need money, he has enough of it, he is using those bats as a goodwill gesture. BAS was with him from the beginning and SG also was very helpful to him. Bade Dil ka Aadmi hai.”
Generally, A list cricketers charge approximately INR 4-5 Cr per year to use the sticker of a particular bat manufacturer with a whole lot of other clauses to go with it. Dhoni currently does not have a contract with any bat manufacturer since his deal with the Australia-based company Spartan ran into a legal dispute.
Vampire firm owner Pushp Kohli too confirmed that Dhoni does not have a contract with the firm anymore.
“It shows the greatness of the man for what he has been doing,” Pushp Kohli told Mirror. “Our association with Dhoni goes back to a long time and you may have seen this in his biopic too.”
It’s true that it is a great gesture by the former India skipper but it has raised another question that whether Dhoni is thinking of taking retirement any time soon after the World Cup.