ICC World Cup 2019 | MS Dhoni switching between bat stickers a goodwill gesture : Reports

The former Indian skipper has always drawn attention to himself throughout his career for unexpected decisions on and off the field. For instance, nobody saw it coming when he handed the ball to an inexperienced Joginder Sharma for the final over of the T20 World Cup final instead of the experienced Harbhajan Singh.

Similarly, in the World Cup final in 2011, he came out to bat ahead of an in-form Yuvraj Singh. Off the field, he left his fans with a surprise haircut ahead of the CB Series down under in 2008. His announcement to step down from captaincy was abrupt as well.

During this World Cup, Dhoni has already been in the limelight for two reasons. The army logo on his wicket-keeping gloves, which was forcefully removed by the ICC. And, his consistently slow-paced innings in the middle order. However, something else has also been going on. 

The former India skipper has used either the BAS or Reebok logo, or in recent years the Spartan logo, on his bat throughout his career. So, it was surprising to see him use a bat with SG’s logo against Pakistan and Bangladesh. Then, towards the latter part of some innings, he switched to a bat with the BAS logo. 

Sources and friends close to the charismatic player said that Dhoni is playing with different company logos as a goodwill gesture, as reported by IANS. Usually, Dhoni charges around Rs 10-15 lakh per match for playing with a particular logo, but not in this case. The stumper is, reportedly, not charging a single penny for it.