After finishing 2016 on a high note, Ravichandran Ashwin has had a great start to 2017 as he has signed a deal with ITW Blitz, which is planning to promote more than 15 brands with Ashwin as its face. The company signed a long-term deal with him in a press conference held in Chennai to felicitate the all-rounder for winning the ICC Cricketer of the year and ICC Test Cricket of the year 2016.

On being asked the reason for signing Ashwin as the brand ambassador, Bhairav Shanth, the consulting co-founder of ITW Blitz said, “Ashwin is very honest and has a clean image, he is a tough player on the field and a consistent performer who has a lot of commitment to perform. These will bring the brands to Ashwin.”

Ashwin could well earn up to 200 Crores, edging past Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli. Both Dhoni and Kohli are valued around Rs. 150 Crores.

Ashwin’s brilliant form last year has been the main reason why every brand is vying to link themselves to him as he ended 2016 as highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with 72 wickets, 15 more than Rangana Herath, who is the second bowler on the list. He also scored 612 runs with the bat, thus becoming the top-ranked all-rounder in the ICC rankings.

Ashwin is currently going through the best period of his career and the cricketer is expected to tumble many more records if he continues to perform the same way in future.