Mahendra Singh Dhoni woos a petite female passenger in the next bus, asking her to join him for coffee.
A clean cut Yuvraj Singh flaunts a bottle of vitamin tablets as the secret of his energy on the field.
Why, even Shantakumaran Sreesanth acts cosy with a Bollywood starlet in an ad promoting a jewellery line from his home state — there is simply no escaping Indian cricketers irrespective of which TV channel you choose.
It's been nearly two weeks since the men in blue regained the World Cup after 28 years and the brand value of members of the team have taken a quantum leap. While the windfall continues in terms of cash, property and cars — the long-term gain key members of the team stand to make will be in terms of an appreciation in their brand equity.
While it had been a problem of plenty for Dhoni and master blaster Sachin Tendulkar - the latter has held sway over the endorsement sector for more than nearly 15 years now - it's the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir who stand to get a bigger slice of the pie.
Indian corporations have always fallen back on Bollywood and cricketers in equal measure when it comes to selling their products — except for a brief period in the wake of the match-fixing scandal of the late 1990s.
The World Cup represents the biggest opportunity to cash in on endorsements and the script could not have been better for the charmed circle of corporates, agents and the players themselves.
India are now the winners — dependable, trustworthy and cool — just the right traits any investor would like to see in their brand ambassadors.
According to market watchers, the brand value of each of the key players will jump by at least 15-20 per cent while those on the fringes like Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina will also see an increase in demand.
Talking numbers
Putting figures on cricketers' endorsements had always been hazardous, but it is believed the top cricketers could be raking in anything between Rs70 million and Rs100 million (Dh5.8 million and Dh8.2 million) a year for each brand, which is a marked increase from what they were being paid before the World Cup victory.
Mind you, these contracts will be multi-year. Add to that the bonus from the board, the share of prize money and the largesse of respective state governments, which are still pouring in and it becomes clear it's not only in a manner of speaking to say India provides cricket with it's financial muscle these days
A clean cut Yuvraj Singh flaunts a bottle of vitamin tablets as the secret of his energy on the field.
Why, even Shantakumaran Sreesanth acts cosy with a Bollywood starlet in an ad promoting a jewellery line from his home state — there is simply no escaping Indian cricketers irrespective of which TV channel you choose.
It's been nearly two weeks since the men in blue regained the World Cup after 28 years and the brand value of members of the team have taken a quantum leap. While the windfall continues in terms of cash, property and cars — the long-term gain key members of the team stand to make will be in terms of an appreciation in their brand equity.
While it had been a problem of plenty for Dhoni and master blaster Sachin Tendulkar - the latter has held sway over the endorsement sector for more than nearly 15 years now - it's the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir who stand to get a bigger slice of the pie.
Indian corporations have always fallen back on Bollywood and cricketers in equal measure when it comes to selling their products — except for a brief period in the wake of the match-fixing scandal of the late 1990s.
The World Cup represents the biggest opportunity to cash in on endorsements and the script could not have been better for the charmed circle of corporates, agents and the players themselves.
India are now the winners — dependable, trustworthy and cool — just the right traits any investor would like to see in their brand ambassadors.
According to market watchers, the brand value of each of the key players will jump by at least 15-20 per cent while those on the fringes like Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina will also see an increase in demand.
Talking numbers
Putting figures on cricketers' endorsements had always been hazardous, but it is believed the top cricketers could be raking in anything between Rs70 million and Rs100 million (Dh5.8 million and Dh8.2 million) a year for each brand, which is a marked increase from what they were being paid before the World Cup victory.
Mind you, these contracts will be multi-year. Add to that the bonus from the board, the share of prize money and the largesse of respective state governments, which are still pouring in and it becomes clear it's not only in a manner of speaking to say India provides cricket with it's financial muscle these days