Dhoni promotes childhood friend's sports company with new bat

MS Dhoni will once again be in action as defending champions Chennai Super Kings will be looking to win back-to-back titles. Recently the CSK skipper was seen practicing with a bat, which had a Prime Sports sticker. Prime Sports is a company owned by the former India player's childhood friend Paramjit Singh.

Paramjit had a big influence in Dhoni's early cricket career, which helped him shape his future. Paramjit's shop is located in Ranchi, and photos from the practice session have been gaining plenty of attention on social media.

Paramjit played a big role in helping Dhoni get his first bat sponsor. In the movie MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, his role in shaping Dhoni's career was highlighted too.

Dhoni has been retained by CSK for IPL 2024 and will once again skipper the side. Chennai defeated Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL 2023 final, winning by five wickets via DLS method.

In the IPL 2023 final, GT posted 214/4 in 20 overs, setting a target of 215 runs. Sai Sudharsan top-scored with a knock of 96 off 47 balls. Meanwhile, Matheesha Pathirana took two wickets for CSK.

Due to the DLS method, CSK were set a target of 171 and reached 171/5 in 15 overs courtesy of an unbeaten 32* off 21 balls by Shivam Dube. For GT's bowling department, Mohit Sharma took three wickets.

Widely considered to be one of the greatest captains in cricket history, Dhoni led the Indian team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2017, and in Tests from 2008 to 2014. He led them to victory in the 2011 World Cup, 2007 T20 World Cup and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, the only captain to win three different limited overs tournaments. During his tenure as skipper, India also won the Asia Cup in 2010 and 2016.

He made his first class debut for Bihar in 1999, and then made his India debut on December 23 2004, in an ODI match against Bangladesh. He played his first Test a year later against Sri Lanka.