'Then came the ultimate all-rounder': Ex-IPL Auctioneer recalls how MS Dhoni triggered first bidding war in 2008 auction

Dhoni was roped in by CSK for USD 1.5 million. Among other franchises, Mumbai Indians were among the ones who were part of the bidding war.

Former IPL auctioneer Richard Madley on Monday recalled the first ever bidding war he witnessed in an Indian Premier League auction when former Indian skipper MS Dhoni was roped in by Chennai Super Kings.

MS Dhoni; Richard Madley

In a conversation with Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube channel, Madley recalled how he was surprised when Australian great Shane Warne, the second player from the bag, was acquired by Rajasthan Royals at his base price. Madley hailed the decision as the "smartest move" of that auction as the Royals had scripted a stunning title victory.

"I remember the second player coming out of the bag that day was Shane Warne. I thought okay here's Warnie and this will be interesting, his base price was I think around 400000 US dollars. That's what he sold for at his base price to Rajasthan Royals and I thought at that time that was a smart move. It's a smart move because at the end of his career but someone remarkably successful, experienced, charismatic and who was a leader. They bought Shane Warne and what did Rajasthan Royals do in IPL one, they won it," he said.

The 64-year-old then talked about Dhoni and how he triggered the auction's first-ever bidding war.

"Then out of the bag came the man himself, the ultimate all-rounder Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and there we saw the first bidding war of many in the IPL auctions," he added.

Dhoni was roped in by CSK for USD 1.5 million. Among other franchises, Mumbai Indians were among the ones who were part of the bidding war. But Chennai Super Kings owner N Srinivasan had a plan chalked out, a mathematical rather, that gave him the edge.

“It is a question of arithmetic, at that time Mr Bindra was there, Punjab wanted Yuvraj to play for them, Delhi wanted (Virender) Sehwag to play for then, Mumbai could not imagine a team without Sachin Tendulkar, how could Sachin play for somebody else,” he had told PTI in an interview two years back.

“Therefore, all them said they wanted icons, they had to pay the icon 10 per cent than the highest-paid player of the team in the auction. So when the bidding went on for Dhoni, I was clear at any price MS Dhoni.

“When it came to USD 1.5 million, I think they realised they would have to pay Sachin USD 1.65 million and Dhoni USD 1.5 million, five million was the purse and sixty per cent of the purse would go to these two players. So they stopped and that’s how we got Dhoni because I said I don’t want an icon,” concluded Srinivasan.