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Dubai: Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni may be on top of the world for now, but still has his feet firmly on the ground. 'Mahi,' as the dasher is called by his teammates, has no plans to move out of Ranchi - a sleepy industrial town in the state of Jharkhand - where he has grown up.
Even as Dhoni's status as a youth icon and income has attracted a lot of unwarranted attention and there was even an abduction threat from the Maoist rebels, the Indian one-day captain has not yet thought of setting up base in any of the metros.
"The issue had come up for discussion before, but Dhoni's logic is that since he gets to spend so little time at home anyway, he might as well do it with his family," his agents told Gulf News.
The family's villa, which is fast coming up in one of the upmarket areas of Ranchi, had been the neighbours' envy with a civil suit filed against a planned swimming pool there, but Dhoni has tried to do his bit as a responsible citizen. Last year, he was the highest income tax payer in his state, having coughed up Rs7.3 million - a figure that is supposed to go up substantially this year.
Jeet Banerjee, managing director of Gameplan Sports Limited which handles Dhoni's portfolios, said they were in no hurry to add to the wicketkeeper-batsman's bulging list of endorsements.
"His demand has grown in leaps and bounds since the Twenty-20 World Cup triumph, but there is only that much he can take. He has signed only one new contract in these six-seven months," said Banerjee.
The Kolkata-based company now plans to be more "selective" in marketing him, saying that a number of offers are in the pipeline. As for him hiking the fees of the country's most sought after cricketer at the moment, it would be anybody's guess.
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