Dhoni and Spartan controversy: Partnership at odds; the latter owes major amount

Dhoni and Spartan controversy: Of late, MS Dhoni and Spartan Sports’ sumptuous deal has gone the other way.

In which has come as another controversy regarding former India captain and current wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni, his deal with his current bat sponsor Spartan Sports is in the midst of a blow.

If reports are to be believed, the Australian-based sports manufacturing company has been irregular with finances, especially when it comes to paying its contracted players. This irregularity with payments has reportedly soured the relation between the company and star players like Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar.

According to reports, it is believed that the company owes Dhoni an amount of $2 million. The company is co-owned by Jalandhar-based businessman, Kunal Sharma. He is supposed to be owing a large amount of money to England’s limited-overs captain, Eoin Morgan.

Other than him, the company also owns money to Australian duo of Joe Burns and Mitchell Johnson.

Other than Sharma, Pakistan’s Kamil Khan is also in a partnership with Spartan Sports. Notwithstanding this current rift, Dhoni has continued to use the logo of Spartan on his bat and other equipment.

There have been concerns regarding the working of company in Australia, where the company is based. “They could not have afforded so much in sponsorship deals with so many cricketers for so high prices without managing to sell his products sufficiently. He wanted to run before he could walk,” said an official of an Australian company, who previously did business with them, but has now stopped placing orders from them.

Dhoni’s name was involved in a controversy last week as well when him being treated as a ‘State Guest‘ in Himachal Pradesh had invited furore from the opposition.

Dhoni’s next international assignment is the imminent Asia Cup where India is set to face Hong Kong in the first match on September 18. Dhoni is all in likeliness of breaking a few records during the tournament.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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