Indian Test captain Virat Kohli beat, in monetary terms, India’s limited-over captain MS Dhoni as far as displaying stickers on their bat is concerned.
According to a report in Times of India, wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni receives Rs. 6 crores from Spartan while currently best Indian batsman Virat Kohli is paid Rs. 8 crores by MRF.
However, it is not their full earnings from endorsement. Kohli earns another Rs. 2 crores on the field for endorsing shoes and an apparel.
Though MS Dhoni is ahead of Kohli as far as off-field brand endorsement value (Example: TV ads) goes. In the off-field brand endorsement fight, Dhoni earns Rs. 8 crores while Kohli earns almost Rs. 5 crores.
Other Indian cricketers are also paid a healthy price for displaying stickers on their bat. For displaying stickers on the bat, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma earn Rs. 3 crores from MRF and Ceat respectively, while Suresh Raina also earns Rs. 2.5 -3 crores from Ceat.
On the other hand, Yuvraj Singh receives Rs. 4 crores from Puma for his bat, shoes and apparel together, while Ajinkya Rahane earns almost Rs. 1.5 crores for that.
Among the non-Indian international cricketers, only South African star cricketer AB de Villiers and West Indian star batsman Chris Gayle receive the same money as Indian batsmen. For displaying stickers on the bat, AB de Villiers earns almost Rs. 3.5 crores while Chris Gayle is paid almost Rs. 3 crores.
A senior executive with a large sports marketing firm said on the endorsement, “Indian players are paid much more than their foreign counterparts because cricket is the most followed sport in the country. However, international stars such as AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle who have a large fan following here, demand big money too.
Here is the list of Cricketers with highest endorsements: