MS Dhoni beats Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan to claim No. 1 spot in brand endorsements, see where Kohli, Ganguly stand

MS Dhoni beats Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan to claim No. 1 spot in brand endorsements, see where Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly stand

MS Dhoni is one of the most popular cricketers across globe and it is visible in the number of brand endorsements the veteran wicketkeeper-batter did in the first half of 2024. As per data released by TAM Media Research, a joint venture between USA's Nielsen and UK's Kantar, Dhoni's brand endorsement saw a significant hike as compared to previous year from January to June. The data revealed that Dhoni had 32 brand endorsement deals in January-June 2023 and it rose to 42 this year during the same period.

In fact, Dhoni has more brand endorsement deals compared to Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, and Akshay Kumar. Bachchan has 41, while Shahrukh is third in the list with 34. If we look at other sportspersons who feature in the top 10 list are India's talismanic skipper Virat Kohli, former India skipper Sourav Ganguly. And surprisingly Kohli is at the 10th position with 21 brand endorsements, while Ganguly is two place above with 24. The data shows a significant dip in Kohli's brand endorsement deals, which was 29 in January-June 2023.

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As mentioned by TAM Media Research, the numbers only feature brands and commercial advertisements and excludes promos and social media advertisements.

Shahrukh Khan to claim No. 1 spot in brand endorsements" width="378" height="213" /> MS Dhoni beats Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan to claim No. 1 spot in brand endorsements

Kohli and Dhoni's IPL value

Both Dhoni and Kohli were retained by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) ahead of the IPL mega auction, which took place in November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Dhoni, who retired from international cricket in August 2020 and last made his international appearance at the semifinals of the 2019 ODI World Cup, was retained by CSK as an uncapped player for Rs 4 crore. Kohli, on the other hand, was the most expensive retention by RCB as the franchise signed him for Rs 21 crore.

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Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in the history of IPL auction with Lucknow Super Giants acquiring his service for Rs 27 crore and former Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer was not far behind with Rs 26.75 crore. He was roped in by Punjab Kings.

Venkatesh Iyer and Heinrich Klaasen are two other names who fetched big money at this year's IPL retention and auction. Klaasen was retained by SRH for Rs 23 crore, while KKR purchased Iyer for Rs 23.75 crore at the auction.