Campaign@8: Newsmakers who headlined our timeline: Mahendra Singh Dhoni

 

From the horse’s mouth

“I’m on national duties so I think everything else can wait, says daddy Mahendra Singh Dhoni”

- February 2015, ahead of the ICC ODI World Cup

 

Headlines

 

“India win dramatic Twenty20 final”

BBC.com – September 2007

 

“India v Sri Lanka: captain's innings from Mahendra Singh Dhoni seals World Cup with final flourish”

The Telegraph – April 2011

 

“MS Dhoni retires from Test cricket”

ESPN Cricinfo – December 2014

 

Perspective

 

Vishal Jaison, co-founder and director, Baseline Ventures, a sports marketing firm, Business Standard, August 2015

 

"There shouldn't be a significant dip in the volume of Dhoni's endorsements in the short term since he is still India's ODI captain and is one of the most bankable Indian cricketers of all time. There aren't many who can match his consistency and form" 

 

Campaign View
 

If there’s anyone who can define ‘success’ in the last eight years, it’s India’s ‘captain cool’, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. In September 2007, coinciding with the launch of this magazine, Dhoni led India to a T20 Cricket World Cup victory. What followed and will be remembered are an ODI World Cup victory, a Champions Trophy win as well as leading the Test team to the number one position in the world rankings. Not to forget the IPL wins Chennai Super Kings have amassed under his leadership. He retired from the five-day format in the same year he was listed by Forbes as the world's fifth most valuable (and Indian’s most valuable) sportsperson brand, valued at $ 20 million. The challenges off the field for Brand Dhoni have grown since then with controversies around the Chennai Super Kings IPL team that he led and was the face of. On the other hand, a biopic is on the anvil. This brand, as brand ambassador and entrepreneur, will endure. 

 

(This article first appeared as part of a feature in the issue of Campaign India dated 4 September 2015)