#WhatTheFAQ: What happened at the 2008 IPL Auction? How did MS Dhoni end up getting the highest bid?

Indian cricketer Smriti Mandhana received a bid for Rs 3.4 crore at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) recently, making it the highest bid in the WPL. This brought back nostalgia from the past when former Indian team captain and captain of Chennai Super Kings at the Indian Premier League (IPL), Mahendra Singh Dhoni, won the highest bid at the IPL auction. 

What happened at the 2008 Auction? 
The first-ever IPL player auction was held on February 20, 2008 and all the bids for players were in US dollars. At the auction, MS Dhoni emerged as the highest-paid player. He was bid for by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). In the auction, the base price set for MS Dhoni was $4,00,000 and Chennai Super Kings bid for him at $15,00,000, which, converted to rupees, is Rs 6,01,80,000. 

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What are some milestones of his IPL career?
Since MS Dhoni joined the IPL in 2008 with CSK, he has been the wicketkeeper of the team. MS Dhoni as captain has won 6 trophies for the CSK franchise (2010 IPL, 2010 CL T20, 2011 IPL, 2014 CL T20, 2018 IPL & 2021 IPL). He became the first player to play 200 T20 matches for CSK. Dhoni came back to CSK after the ban on the franchise was lifted in 2018. He has played over 234 matches in the IPL, in total. He was named the team's first-choice player for Rs 15 crore in the 2018 IPL player retention.

How is the relationship between Virat Kholi and MS Dhoni?
Cricket fans all over the country have always debated over who is the better captain. MS Dhoni or Virat Kholi. While MS Dhoni has been the most successful captain in Indian cricket with an amazing record of wins and trophies, Virat Kohli has been one of the most successful and in-form cricketers in world cricket. But the bond and friendship between these two cricket players is known to all. During the Asia Cup in September 2022, Kholi revealed that Dhoni was the only person to text him after his first Test captaincy role for the Indian team. 

What are some highlights of Dhoni’s cricket career?
Under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, India won the ICC World Cup in 2011 for the second time after 1983 when Kapil Dev was the team captain. In 2011, under Dhoni’s captaincy, the team won the World Cup which boosted his career in cricket and again in the year 2015, India reached the semi-finals in ICC World Cup under his captaincy.