The “conflict of interest” issue around Indian cricket threatens to take off in another direction with India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s close friend Arun Pandey finding the spotlight on himself.
Pandey, whose company Rhiti Sports Private Limited signed up Dhoni three years ago, has generally shunned the limelight and is best known for being the man who manages the cricketer’s endorsements.
When Dhoni and RSPL came together, it made news simply because at `210 crore for three years — `70 crore per year — it was the biggest deal ever cut in Indian cricket. The firm drew income from sponsors, kept a commission and paid the balance to Dhoni.
Himself a cricketer of modest ability who plied his trade in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and the Delhi leagues as an effective left-arm spinner, Pandey today is in the news for reasons he would not be very happy about.Pandey’s introduct ion to the wider world was in its own way spectacular as Dhoni, by then already a huge brand in himself, chose RSPL over the big boys of the player management/endorsement circuit.
Having played some cricket together back in the early years of the new century, Dhoni and Pandey developed a relationship that has not only lasted — very lucratively for both — but has also started t branch out into other areas.
With Dhoni’s interest in speed and motorcycling well known, the two have set up a team that competes on the subsidiary circuit of World Superbikes championship — the Supersport series as the MSD RN Racing Team. And with a fair degree of success too. What has however, dragged Pandey and RSPL into public gaze is the controversy over whether or not the India skipper is also a shareholder in the firm that represents him commercially — and has a couple of more CSK players on its rolls to boot.
Besides being listed in ministry of company affairs filings as a shareholder, Dhoni and Pandey have diversified into areas like image licensing (in March 2012, through Rhiti MSD Alamode Pvt Ltd) and gyms (in February 2013, through Sportsfit World Overseas Pvt Ltd). The conflict of interest angle sharpens however, over RSPL’s client list that includes India or CSK stars Suresh Raina, Pragyan Ojha and Ravindra Jadeja, among others.
On the day, former IPL chairman and BCCI member Rajiv Shukla tried to steer clear of the controversy. Asked about Dhoni’s alleged conflict of interest having a stake in a company which manages key players, he said : “I am not holding any official position in the BCCI.” Added Board joint secretary Anurag Thakur to a wire agency, “I have heard it for the first time. If there is a concern, we may look into the matter” he was quoted as saying.