FIVE INDIAN players are listed by Forbes as world’s top ten earning cricketers with the skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni topping the list. Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Dravid and Sourabh Ganguly are the remaining four listed by the magazine.

The Indian Captain Dhoni leads the Forbe’s list with a figure of USD 10 million. Tendulkar, not way behind, earns USD 8 million.

The third and the fourth spot are all in Indian’s possession with Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid, respectively, grabbing the top earners spot. Singh earned USD 5.5 while Dravid made USD 5 million in the period of last 12 months.

The only foreign player named in the top 5 is Andrew Flintoff with an earning of USD 4 million.
The money in the US dollar includes the national team salaries and club payments as well the income of the players from the commercial endorsement.

India’s most successful Test captain Sourabh Ganguly and the Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting jointly share the sixth place in the top ten list released by Forbes. Ganguly and Ponting, both, earned USD 3.5 million.

Other foreign players listed in the top ten rankings are Australian pace bowler Brett Lee and English all-rounder Kevin Peterson, both, sharing the eighth spot with an earning of USD 3 million.
The last name in the top ten ranking is of Michael Clarke, Australian player, getting USD 2.5 million in the last one year.

Indian Premier League played a major role in the cricketer’s earning and its importance can be understood by a simple fact that nine out of ten players listed in the top ten list of the publication have earned a big sum from IPL.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, for example, made USD 8 million from endorsers with the likes of Reebok, General Electric and Pepsi. The skipper’s earnings from endorsements is 45 percent more than any other player. Dhoni was also the highest paid player in the first season of IPL. His total of 17 corporate sponsors is only second to the King Khan of Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan among all Indian players and entertainers.

According to the magazine, Tendulkar is considered as the greatest batsman in cricket history. The publication adds, “The Mumbaikar is one of those five players in IPL who were given icon status in the team, meaning the icon player automatically receives 15 percent more sum than his highest paid teammate”.

This skipper of Mumbai Indians, largely owned by Ambanis, got a total of USD 1.1 million from the Mumbai Indians.