Chennai Super Kings deny that MS Dhoni asked to buy a stake in the franchise

Chennai Super Kings have denied that MS Dhoni ever approached them about buying a stake in the franchise, while accounts from Chennai confirm he already owns a small parcel of its shares

A senior Chennai Super Kings official, speaking to Cricbuzz, said the subject had never been raised with the franchise. "MS has never asked us about it. We never discussed the matter. We also don't have any information about him having discussed this with Mr N Srinivasan either," the official said.

The denial answers a report published on 25 August by Indranil Basu of CricBlogger, which said MS Dhoni had wanted to buy into the franchise during the last season of the Indian Premier League and that the talks ended in deadlock over how much of it he would get.

What is not in dispute is that Dhoni already holds shares in the club he captained to five titles, bought privately rather than granted to him.

What the franchise says

CSK have now answered the reports twice. Chief executive Kasi Viswanathan told PTI in late August that suggestions of his former captain seeking co-ownership were "completely baseless", and the franchise official quoted by Cricbuzz went further this week, saying no such conversation had taken place with the management or with N Srinivasan.

Viswanathan used the same conversation to leave the playing question open. "Dhoni hasn't yet said he won't play. So let's wait," he said.

Neither statement addresses the detail of the original report, which was sourced rather than on the record.

The shares Dhoni already owns

CSK is an unlisted company, so its shares are not traded on the open market, but they can change hands privately through off-market transactions. Information from Chennai suggests Dhoni picked his up that way when they were available.

His holding runs to more than one lakh shares, a fraction of the more than 30 crore shares held by the public, which themselves account for close to 40 per cent of the franchise's share capital. The Srinivasan family retains a controlling stake of more than 55 per cent.

Measured against the price an IPL franchise now commands — one team was last sold for over Rs 16,600 crore — Dhoni's stake works out at roughly Rs 2.6 to 3 crore. His estimated net worth, built over a 21-year career in international cricket, the IPL and endorsements, is around Rs 1,200 crore.

The report the franchise is denying

Basu's report described a negotiation that moved in steps and never met. Dhoni was said to have opened at 25 per cent of the franchise and come down to 20 and then 18, while CSK went from 3 per cent to 4 and finally 5.5 per cent.

"Dhoni wanted to buy a stake. He wasn't asking for it for free, but the CSK management thought otherwise," a source told CricBlogger. The same report said the talks were conducted verbally, with no written proposal or agreement passing between the two sides.

That absence of paperwork is part of why the accounts that followed have not agreed with each other on the numbers, and why the franchise can answer them simply by saying the conversation never happened.

A season without a game

The story lands in a year Dhoni spent off the field. Having given up the captaincy, he did not appear in a single match last season, and the CricBlogger report said it remained unclear whether the disagreement over a stake had anything to do with it.

He remains, by every account from Chennai, the most influential voice at the franchise.

The decision waiting on his return

CSK have been without a head coach since Stephen Fleming left in July, after 19 seasons and five IPL titles, to take charge of England's Test side. The franchise has gone three seasons without adding a sixth title.

Viswanathan said in August that CSK were most likely looking at an overseas expert for the job. Officials maintain no candidate has been settled on, though Cricbuzz reported that the club has zeroed in on an overseas coach who is also in talks with another franchise.

Dhoni is believed to be in the United States and is expected back around 22 September, with the management due to meet soon after to finalise the coach and then turn to transfers and trades.

Until he is back in Chennai, the appointment, and the question of what Dhoni himself does next, stay where they are.

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