As Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) gear up to play Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the last time in IPL 2025 at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on May 3, the legendary rivalry between these two original IPL sides takes center stage. While RCB have had Virat Kohli as their face of the team since 2008, CSK have kept their talisman, MS Dhoni, employed with them each year since the beginning of the league.
Dhoni Could Have Played for RCB
As long ago as 2008, RCB had the chance to sign up MS Dhoni during the first-ever IPL mega auction. Virat Kohli came to the Bengaluru franchise via the pre-auction U19 draft, whereas Dhoni refused to sign up with any franchise as an icon player prior to the auction. This left all franchises in the hunt to bid for India’s T20 World Cup-winning captain.
RCB, having already had Rahul Dravid as their icon player, went in to bid for Dhoni. But they lost out on him as a result of a blunder in the course of the auction.
RCB Underbid, Former Auctioneer Says
Former auctioneer Richard Madley, who conducted the 2008 IPL auction, came forward with an interview in 2021 to reveal that RCB lost the bid for signing Dhoni as they underbid.
This is the same bidding tablet RCB employed during the inaugural auction (holding up the pad on camera) and they were still referred to as Bengaluru then because the franchisees’ official names were not yet finalized. RCB underbid with this exact bidding tablet for MS Dhoni in the 2008 auction, quite remorsefully I might add,” Madley asserted.
CSK Outbid Opponents, Constructed a Legacy
Chennai Super Kings then signed up Dhoni, a move that dictated the future course of the franchise. Though Mumbai Indians (MI) were interested as well, their narrow purse did not allow them to top CSK’s bid. MI had already committed Sachin Tendulkar as an icon player, who, by virtue of IPL rules, was to receive 15% more than the team’s most expensive auction purchase—thus capping how much they could bid for Dhoni.
With Dhoni at the helm, CSK went on to become one of the most successful teams in IPL history, winning five titles and consistently reaching the playoffs.
Dhoni Still Leads in IPL 2025
Even though Dhoni relinquished the full-time captaincy ahead of the 2024 season, he is back to captain CSK this year as Ruturaj Gaikwad has suffered an injury. At the age of 43, Dhoni remains the strategic mastermind of the team, making CSK competitive each season
