Any guesses as to who currently is the top earner among the Indian sportspersons? No, it is not the universal favorite Sachin Tendulkar. It is now MS Dhoni who has becomes the top choice for corporates, who are forever on the lookout for eligible celebrity endorsers. It is estimated by sources from within the sports management industry that the earning of the Indian One-day and Twenty20 skipper MS Dhoni could be to the tune of Rs 50 Crore this year. Sachin Tendulkar comparatively will get to pocket around Rs 35 Crore.

At the moment both Tendulkar and Dhoni are charging more or less the same amount for advertisements. A source revealed, ‘Their price tags can go up to Rs 4 Crore each for every endorsement they sign.’ But it is heard that MD Dhoni has left Tendulkar behind as far as the number of brands endorsed goes. Only a few years ago when Dhoni was a new face, he just charged around Rs 20 lakh to Rs 40 lakh for every endorsement. His fees have increased in proportion to his gradual increase in stature, which crucially can be accrued to India's historic win in the T20 World Cup, the Australian tri-series and so on. Given the widespread popularity of cricketer MS Dhoni, even the advertisers are quite happy to appease him financially.

Commenting on this issue, Dhoni's agent Jeet Banerjee, said ‘Dhoni is a big brand today and a lot of representatives from India Inc are showing interest in associating with him.’ Mr Banerjee, however, refused to quote a specific amount when asked what Dhoni’s current earning were. Future Group, which has been associated with Tendulkar, has recently roped in Dhoni too. So this is what Sandip Tarcas of Future Group had to say on this issue. ‘Brand Dhoni is 10 times bigger than he used to be, but to us Tendulkar is an icon and they both have mass connectivity,’ he stated. Among other top grossers after Dhoni and Tendulkar include Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, etc.