Mumbai: MS Dhoni was the highest endorsed brand in the Indian cricket team, after Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement. But, as on date, brand Virat has overtaken brand Dhoni. Kohli is the man of the moment, not only for the cricket maniacs but also for the brand managers. Dhoni continues to be the highest paid brand endorsers in terms of annual deals but Kohli earns more than MSD in per day endorsement fees.
Kohli charges for about Rs 2 crore per day against Dhoni’s Rs 1.5 crore. Tendulkar used to charge Rs 2 crore. Brands have two contract options – to hire endorser for a year or to hire endorser on per day basis. “Kohli signs contracts for about 3 days with per day charge of Rs 2 crore, equivalent to cricket legend, Sachin. Brands utilises those three days in photo shoots, press briefings along with other appearances,” said a brand consultant, who negotiates with Kohli’s brand manager on behalf of advertisers.
Kohli has also overtaken MSD in bat endorsements. Dhoni charges Rs. 6 crore for his Spartan sticker on his bat. Kohli gets Rs. 8 crore for his MRF sticker. “In last four years, the brand value of Kohli has boomed from under a crore to over few crores now.
He endorses 15 brands and we are expecting to add another five brands this years, mostly in lifestyle and tech segment,” Bunty Sajdeh, CEO, Cornerstone Sports and Entertainment, the agency that manages Kohli’s endorsement deals, was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.
Currently Kohli charges Rs 5 crore per annum (per brand) at the same time Dhoni charges Rs 8 crore. “Most of Virat’s deals are over two years. Dhoni’s majority of deals are for a year. We are not encouraged to hire Virat for a short term contract, considering his age and stage in career.
However, while Dhoni is a commendable player, we generally invest on per year contracts,” said a marketing head at an international firm who has worked with both Kohli and Dhoni, for 2 different brands.
Dhoni’s drop in form in last few matches and the rise of Virat at the same time is the major reason of rise in the value of Virat. Virat’s ability to make his appearance felt, his iconic looks, his swagger, his fan following in both boys and girls is also major reason of shift in choices of brand managers.
Time to look beyond?
“Dhoni is still there!” till two years ago, this statement not only gave satisfaction to Indian fans but also created fear in the minds of bowlers. But nowadays, it seems that Dhoni has not been able to perform to his upmost limits. It has definitely raised the question of who after Dhoni? He is supposedly to play till the next world cup of 2019. But is it really time for selectors to look for someone beyond Dhoni?
Dhoni’s batting form has shown signs of decline. For being the most feared finisher, he only has one half century in international T20. He still is the lightning bolt when it comes to running between the wickets but his form with bat has been brought into question.
What’s going wrong for him?
His high staked gamble approach for finishing games in the last overs in limited overs where Dhoni would back himself to pull off a heroic win with his fireworks has started to back fire on him.
His failing finishing skills which he backs the most to win matches has started to go to vain. In recent innings Dhoni has not been so impressive with the bat and has failed to produce match winning innings which he is famous for.
Dropping out of test matches and only opting to play limited overs was a crucial decision for him. He requires to spend more time on the crease and work on his form. He has played a quick 20s, 30s but has failed to convert it into big scores.
Lately, India have been banking a lot on Virat Kohli and his form. Other than him, all batsmen are struggling to find form. Top order batsmen are just not being able to build a strong foundation for the team. In such situations, team’s best finisher being out of form is only more bad news.
Dhoni’s big shots have dried up to a great extent. The ability to hit boundaries at will and to time shots as per situations has declined. Unlike two years ago where he could even hit mistimed shots to boundaries, his abilities to score has declined.
Bowlers have become smarter about him – they don’t fear him anymore. Bravo had practiced death over bowling against Dhoni therefore he knew where to bowl to him. The bowlers have changed their line and length of their bowling and started pitching it slightly shorter to Dhoni giving him no room to swing. They know their usual go-to-ball in death overs; the yorker won’t work against Dhoni as he has his famous helicopter shot.
It is definitely not curtains for Dhoni as he still has a lot of time left with him. He can get back in form and become the same Dhoni he once was. He still is the captain of the Indian cricket team and the entire team backs on his skills. He can surely shuffle up the batting order and play three slots higher at number four and maybe let batsmen like Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane or Lokesh Rahul could come in and finish the job for him.
At most, this could help Dhoni as he would get some more time on crease and rediscover himself in the limited overs format.
This will not help him silence his haters, but also get his fierce hitting fireworks right on. And who knows, we might even be able to see some more of the helicopter shots which he has not resorted to in recent past. And for his fans, this will just be a treat to watch before he hangs his boots.