There’s been plenty of buzz around MS Dhoni’s alleged equity demands from Chennai Super Kings but former cricketer Aakash Chopra isn’t buying it.
Speculation had been swirling that Dhoni initially asked for a 25% ownership stake in CSK, later scaling that down to 20%, while the franchise reportedly countered with an offer of just 5.5%. According to a cricket news portal, talks between Dhoni and the CSK management eventually fell apart because the two sides couldn’t find common ground on the terms he had proposed.
Addressing the matter on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra pushed back on the idea that a 25% demand made any sense. He pointed to the recent valuation figures floating around for RCB, which was reportedly valued somewhere in the range of 1.7 to 1.8 billion, and argued that CSK belongs to the same bracket. He noted that regardless of how one chooses to value the franchise, CSK’s five IPL titles and its ownership stakes in franchises outside India make it a equally valuable, if not more valuable, team.
He also weighed in on the smaller percentage figures being discussed, reportedly 3.5% and 5.5%. Aakash Chopra stressed that even a stake as small as 5.5% would translate into a massive sum of money, and that even two or three percent of a franchise valued that highly would still amount to a staggering figure.
Ultimately, Aakash Chopra expressed skepticism about the entire narrative, suggesting that it might be a deliberately planted story, though he admitted he had no idea who might be behind it. He found it hard to believe the sequence of events as reported, a demand for 25%, followed by a rejection, then an offer of 3.5%, and finally a settlement at 5.5% after a falling out, calling the whole progression questionable.
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