NEW DELHI: Gearing up for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), legendary
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
's recent images, practicing in the nets spread like a wildfire on social media.
The buzz around the Dhoni images was his newest bat sticker -- the
Prime Sports
logo -- which turned out to be a gesture for a dear friend as the legend promoted the latter's shop, earning him plaudits all around.
However it is not the first time, Dhoni has helped someone in such a manner as owner of BAS, a bat manufacturing company, Somi Kohli recently revealed he did something similar for him during the 2019 World Cup.
Sharing a stunning tale of Dhoni's big-hearted act, Kohli revealed that the ‘keeper-batter let go of a contract worth Crores of rupees and instead used his logo on the bat during the 2019 ODI World Cup.
Kohli said Dhoni did it as a payback for the help he received from the bat manufacturer during his early days as a cricketer.
Kohli further said that Dhoni didn't charge a single penny for sporting the BAS logo at the cricketing extravaganza.
"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'," Kohli said in a Youtube video.
Dhoni's association with BAS began in 1998 when his friend Paramjit Singh convinced Kohli to support the young boy from Ranchi.
Interestingly, Dhoni hit his first one-day international century – 148 against Pakistan – with a BAS sticker on his bat.
Former Australian keeper-batter Adam Gilchrist also talked about Dhoni's recent gesture while doing commentary during the second T20I between Australia and West Indies.
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