Mahendra Singh Dhoni never fails to surprise. Ahead of the opening match of the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday, which will see defending champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK) square off against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the 42-year-old cricketer chose to hand over the captaincy reins to teammate Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Brand experts say that CSK’s brand value may take a knock of about 10-15% following Dhoni’s decision to step down as the skipper. While the timing may have seemed perfect to ‘Thala’, as Dhoni is affectionately called, his myriad fans and well-wishers have been left disappointed. Social media erupted with fans describing his move as an “end of an era” and “sudden”.
Dhoni was being promoted as the CSK skipper till Wednesday on social media.
“I got to know of the decision just before the captains’ meeting (on Thursday). You have to respect his decision, it is his call,” CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told PTI soon after the Indian Premier League X (formerly Twitter) handle revealed Gaikwad as the new CSK skipper.
“Fans and brands have grown up seeing Dhoni as the skipper of CSK. His presence of mind, his leadership qualities will be missed, even though he remains in the team for now. There will certainly be an impact on the CSK brand value, albeit for the short period,” Ashish Mishra, chief executive officer, Interbrand India & South Asia, said.
Samit Sinha, founder and managing partner of Delhi-based Alchemist Brand Consulting, said Dhoni has opted to move on while at the top. “Dhoni had been dropping hints of retirement for some time now. Plus, he is over 40 years. So, the timing was right from Dhoni’s perspective. However, from CSK’s point of view, there could be a temporary blip in terms of brand value,” Sinha said.
In Dhoni’s 16-year captaincy of CSK, the team marked by its bright yellow jersey, has lifted the IPL trophy five times – 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2023 – which is equal to the record held by Mumbai Indians.
Dhoni also remains the most successful IPL captain to date, with 133 wins out of 226 appearances under his belt versus Rohit Sharma’s 87 wins out of 158 matches. Both Mumbai Indians and CSK remain the top two IPL teams, according to a December 2023 Brand Finance report, with brand values of $87 million and $81 million each.
While this will only be the second time when CSK starts an IPL season without Dhoni as their designated skipper, this time Captain Cool has stepped away for good.