http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758
MS Dhoni has signed another two-year deal worth U.S. 48 million dollars with Rhiti Sports. The company will handle all endorsements, patents, digital rights, corporate profiles and merchandise of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mahendra-Singh-Dhoni-c73820. The contract becomes the biggest deal in cricket surpassing a three year deal worth 38 million U.S. dollars which was signed by Sachin Tendulkar. Rhiti Sports General Manager confirmed the news when he said, “We have entered into a two-year contract with Dhoni for 2000 million rupees ($48 million), we signed the contract a week back. From now onwards, we will be handling Dhoni's endorsements."
The Indian captain is currently endorsing 22 brands including http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Godrej-c60262, Airtel, Reebok, IMG, PMG and Pepsi Co. Dhoni now becomes the world’s highest earning cricketer. The company is likely to cash on next year’s ICC World Cup that will be taking place in India. Dhoni’s brand value is likely to increase in the years to come. Rhiti Sports is already managing the accounts of some of the leading Indian stars including RP Singh and Harbhajan Singh.
Forbes in a study conducted last year placed MS Dhoni as the world’s richest cricketer with an annual earning of U.S. 10 million dollars while Sachin followed the list with annual earning of U.S. 8 million dollar. Cricket is religiously followed in India which is why companies sign-up Indian cricketers with lucrative deals with different sponsors.
Dhoni rose to the occasion as a stable captain during India’s victory in the 2007 T20 World Cup. Dhoni recently led the Chennai Super Kings to victory in the recently concluded IPL in India. Dhoni, who was the most eligible bachelor of India, who recently got married to a childhood friend. Dhoni holds an impressive average of 51.67 in ODI’s from 156 matches.
While Dhoni is celebrating his wedding and a fantastic multi-million dollar deal, India is facing a bowling crisis following an injury to Shantha Sreesanth. India is already facing bowling problems with Zaheer Khan out of squad because of an injury. Sreesanth is likely to remain out of action for four weeks after he tore his ligament in his left knee. "I was looking forward to this one," Sreesanth said before returning to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750. "The moment I came to know Zaheer bhai is not around, I thought 'wow it is a great opportunity for me.”
Harbhajan Singh also missed the training session because of fever but he is likely to play in the first test match. Munaf Patel got a late call from the Indian selectors who was to replace the 27-year-old Sreesanth. India is currently ranked as the number one team in test cricket. The team will start its tour to Sri Lanka this week with the first test at Galle. Captains from both the teams have shown the desire to go for a result oriented series. The Galle test will be remembered for Murali since he will be retiring after that match. An illustrious era of spin bowling will come to an end.
Munaf Patel will get a chance to find his place back in the team provided that he delivers in the middle. The Guajarati bowler has played a total of 12 test matches while bagging 34 wickets. Patel was dropped for the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 tour in 2009. But this tour of Sri Lanka comes as a surprise for Patel as injuries to Zaheer and Sreesanth have given him a chance to impress the selectors.
Earlier, the Sri Lankan captain was unhappy for not having the UDRS for this test series. Sri Lanka was looking to use the new technology but India had other plans. The Indian team believed that the system does not add value in the decision making process. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Nishantha-Ranatunga-c79713 currently serving as the Secretary for Sri Lankan Cricket said, "The decision at the ICC meeting was that both the teams should agree with having the DRS system. When we checked with India, they were not happy to have it". Indian captain MS Dhoni explained his team’s position on the UDRS as well. Dhoni said that his team has a genuine concern with the technology in use which is not 100% accurate. The Indian captain clarified that why challenge a decision when the best available technology is not being used. Dhoni stressed on the need to use better technology in the shape of “the Hot Spot”.
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