Despite retiring from international cricket four years ago, MS Dhoni continues to be the cynosure of all eyes. Not seen in ground much nowadays, he is only active in the Indian Premier League as a player. Dhoni plays for Chennai Super Kings and he has been retained by the franchise for Rs 4 crore ahead of IPL 2025. The lack of presence on the ground has not made any negative impact on the player’s market value though. In fact, Dhoni’s value off the ground has only increased in the first half of 2024.

India and CSK legend Dhoni has even surpassed Bollywood greats like Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan in terms of brand endorsements in the first-half of the year 2024, as per a recent report published by TAM Media Research, a joint venture between USA’s Nielsen and UK’s Kantar.

Dhoni, who recently become the face of Eurogrip Tyres, has been associated with other big brands like Gulf Oil, Cleartrip, Master Card, Citroen, Lay’s, and Garuda Aerospace.

As per the report, Dhoni has got 42 brand deals in the first-half of 2024. The tally is one more than that of Amitabh and 8 more than Shah Rukh’s.

Dhoni stepped down from CSK’s captaincy after guiding the franchise to its fifth IPL title in 2023. Ruturaj Gaikwad succeeded him, and in his debut stint, CSK failed to qualify for the play offs.

Ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, the 43-year-old former India captain was retained as an uncapped player after the IPL introduced a new rule allowing franchises to retain players in the uncapped category if they have not played international cricket for five years.

Along with Dhoni, Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Matheesha Pathirana and Shivam Dube were also retained by CSK as they look to embark on the journey of getting their hands on the sixth title.

The IPL 2025 mega auction will take place in Jeddah on November 24 and 25, where all ten franchises will look to build a strong squad for the new season.

(With ANI Inputs)