According to the magazine, Dhoni made USD eight million in endorsements. He endorsed the likes of Reebok and Pepsi. The magazine also noted that Dhoni’s endorsements were 45 per cent more than any other player. "Among all Indian athletes and entertainers, Dhoni's 17 corporate sponsors is second to only Bollywood star and co- owner of the Knight Riders, Shahrukh Khan," Forbes said.

“Paycheck figures include club and national team salaries and commercial endorsement income over the last 12 months," said Forbes. Out of the ten cricketers who made the million dollar list, four are from the Indian sub-continent.

The 'little master', Sachin Tendulkar, comes in second in the list with an impressive garner of USD eight million. Tendulkar who is considered by many to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time, still has plenty of endorsement deals. "He is (Sachin Tendulkar) one of five Indian Premier League players who have been bestowed 'icon' status, meaning he automatically receives a paycheck 15 per cent larger than his highest paid teammate. Tendulkar's USD 1.1 million salary from the Mumbai Indians helped push his total earnings to USD eight million over the last 12 months."

Coming in at third spot in the list is Yuvraj Singh who pocketed USD 5.5 million the last year alone. Rahul Dravid comes in next with a take home figure of USD five million. The skipper of the 'Bangalore Royals' team steered his team one of a big comeback this season on the IPL and finished runner up in the competition. Andrew Flintoff comes fifth in the list after making USD four million. Saurav Ganguly, the 'dada' of Bengal may have led the Knight Riders to defeat in the latest season of IPl, but he laughed all the way to the bank after pocketing a mullah worth USD 3.5 million himself.

Fellow IPL team mate and Australian skipper, Ricky Ponting shares the sixth spot with Saurav Ganguly earning a reported USD three million. Forbes magazine pointed out in the list that the highly popular Indian Premier League is one of the reasons why cricketers today are raking in so much money. "With its deep-pocketed owners and global appeal, nine of the 10 highest-paid cricket players call the Indian Premier League (IPL) home”, Forbes said in its website.

Also making the list are Australia’s Brett Lee and Kevin Pietersen who each raked in USD three million. And rounding up this list is Kevin Pietersen from Australia who earned USD 2.5 million. Whilst cricket is played on a professional level in around 100 countries, the players who made this list come from only three – India, Australia and England.