As has always been the case with MS Dhoni, there is no real certainty with his next step, and ever since reports have emerged about his retirement from International cricket after the World Cup, there have been speculations about the same. However, if we take a look at the recent developments in the World Cup, the signs most definitely point towards Dhoni playing in his final tournament for India.
Dhoni has always been associated with bat brands like 'Reebok' or the 'Spartan', but it has not been the case in the ongoing World Cup. The former Indian captain has been seen playing with the SG, the SS, the BAS logo on his bat. This could well be his way of saying thank you to all the people concerned for sticking with him during the initial stages of his career.
Changing bat sponsor from SG to BAS
In the last two matches against England and Bangladesh, Dhoni walked out to bat with a SG logo. Towards the end of the innings, he switched to BAS (Vampire) logo when he was trying to go after the bowlers. It needs to be mentioned here that both these brands have sponsored Dhoni's bat during the initial stages of his career and now, in his own unique way, the former skipper is thanking them for their support.
Dhoni's manager and close friend, Arun Pandey, told Mumbai Mirror, "It's a fact that he has been using different bats with different brandings, but he is not charging them. He wants to say thanks to them for helping in various stages of his career."
"Dhoni has a big heart. He does not need money, he has enough of it, he is using those bats as a goodwill gesture. BAS was with him from the beginning and SG also was very helpful to him," he further added.
As is the norm, top cricketers charge an amount ranging between Rs 4 crore to Rs 5 crore annually. Dhoni, however, does not have a bat sponsor as his deal with Australia-based Spartan Sports having ran into legal trouble.
Now, this recent turn of events have only added more fuel to the raging fire about his possible retirement. There is little doubt over the support Dhoni finds in the Indian team and hence, any announcement over the same could be made after the World Cup ends.
