Look at Mahendra Singh Dhoni. I haven't seen a leader like him. His thinking, his way of approach, how he reinvents himself even at this age and molds his team. He found a bowler, Pathirana, I don't know where, picked him up and groomed him into a lethal match-winner. He knows how to use his players. He keeps thinking. Every time I interact with him, I learn something.
There was a game between Lucknow and Chennai. My 11-year-old grandson, my daughter's son, is crazy about cricket. Dhoni was teaching him cricket at my house five, seven, eight years ago. Mahi remembered that, but he was only two or three years old then, so he didn't remember much. He was firing non-stop questions.
The kid was asking, 'Why this way? Why not this way? How would you make this?' I was telling him, 'You are talking to a legend.' Then Mahi told me, 'Leave it, sir. I am enjoying this. You go, leave Mahi to me.' He spent half an hour talking to him. This human quality, that he spent so much time with a child, respecting that this is Sanjiv Goenka's grandson, and giving him that time... it not only touches you in the heart but makes you learn that you should behave the same way with others. That is why he is Dhoni. That is why when he plays in Lucknow, you see more yellow than blue. In Chennai games, you only see yellow. The sad part is that it happens at Wankhede too. That is Dhoni, and that is why he has this kind of fandom.
He is a legend, having given so much to the country. 100% right. Many of the players in the team that won the T20 World Cup are his mentees. He has mentored them. Mostly, I can't think of someone who wasn't mentored. Hardik was mentored, Jassi bhai was mentored, Kohli, Rohit obviously been mentored, the core. Rishabh Pant is obviously mentored. Rishabh Pant is a huge Dhoni fan, just like all of us. But he is more so. You see the wicketkeeper-batsman parallels in both. I don't know Rishabh that well yet, so I can't say, but I haven't seen a brain like Mahi's to this day.
Sir, there are two questions related to his brain. About the interaction with your grandson that you mentioned, MS Dhoni was enjoying the interaction. First, what do you think he was enjoying? The curiosity aspect? I don't know whether it was purely that, or it was an emotion that this is Sanjiv Goenka's grandson and I have a good relation with Sanjiv Goenka, so I must go the extra mile. I don't know what it was. But either way, it is a characteristic of a leader. You are either encouraging a child, or you are honoring a relationship, or it's a combination of both.
And you know, sir, I see a similarity between Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni. First, both are iconic captains, both are legends. I personally feel that the word 'sixth sense' has a scientific perspective: it's pattern recognition. You have a long business career of 40-50 years, so obviously you develop a pattern recognition. With so much experience, you know what to do in certain situations. Similarly, MS Dhoni has played so many matches, so he knows what to do. But this sixth sense also has a spiritual perspective. There are some people who can slightly see the future. Absolutely correct. But it can't just be scientific pattern recognition. There is something divine, a feeling comes that this is right at that moment. And you don't know how it comes. You can call it divine intervention, whatever you want. I personally believe a lot in astrology, I believe in religion, and I also believe in karma theory. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you do good, good will happen to you; if you do bad, bad will happen. Simple.
Now, about the bid for the IPL team. You discussed with 50 consultants, experts. Some said 4,000 crore, some said 5,000 crore, some said 6,000 crore. Then you did your own calculations, and your numbers were coming in the range between 5.5 and 6.5. That was the commercial thing. The bid was to be placed the next day. It was a weekend. We were all sitting—my wife, my son, my daughter-in-law—having tea in the evening. We were eating a Marwari snack called Suhalia, a fried flour snack, with chili pickle. And the discussion was on what final number to put in the bid, with the family. My wife asked me, 'What is your commercial number?' I said, '6,000 to 6,500.' She said, 'Okay. If I were you, I would put an extra 100 crore per year for Papa's passion and your passion.' So, from 6,000, it became 7,000. It was an intuition that this could be the winning bid. 6,000 could also have been winning, but this was an intuition that you have to make a dead bid. If you have to win, how much premium will you pay for that feeling?
