Vijay Mallya may be unable to steer the Indian captain away from the Chennai Super Kings. But that does not mean he cannot still sign him!
The Royal Challengers Bangalore would like Mahendra Singh Dhoni in their team. However, the CSK are planning on retaining him as part of the IPL 4 player retention programme.

However, Dhoni and Mallya have other reasons to join forces. Dhoni has reportedly ( according to the Economic Times ) signed up with Mallya’s UB Group for a whopping three year deal (not by his standards may be) Rs.26 crores.

The sports management company that manages Dhoni, Rhiti Sports, has reportedly facilitated the deal wherein Dhoni will be the face of McDowell’s soda for a sponsorship deal that is estimated to be on par with the best in India, best in Bollywood and heavy by sports persons’ standards. And Dhoni will be doing UB’s bidding reportedly around the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, some may say – how timely since the World Cup is to be hosted in India.

The captain with the Midas touch has been on the rise on the sponsorship circle, even beating Sachin Tendulkar by current estimates and featuring himself on the richest cricketers‘ list by a margin.