MS Dhoni and his wife Sakshi during a meeting with Air Chief Marshal PV Naik at the latter's residence in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)

Captain Cool sure knows how to lead from the front. After taking India to victory on the field, MS Dhoni is now leading the pack of cricketers most preferred for endorsements in the ad world. According to ad gurus, Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar have emerged as the brand ambassadors of Team India shining. 

"In my opinion, Sachin is already a superstar. But it's MS Dhoni who will garner the most attention from advertisers at the moment, simply because he's young and has great looks too. See, looks matter a lot in the ad world and Dhoni scores maximum in this department among all the cricketers. With the kind of success he's achieved by winning the World Cup, he's become the number one brand in the country," says ad guru Alyque Padamsee. 

"MS Dhoni is the man of the moment. And definitely, seeing the kind of hype that was created for the World Cup, he's become the number one brand in the country," corroborates ad man Prahlad Kakar before adding, "But this might just be a temporary phase for Dhoni as you can't compare cricket to Bollywood. Despite giving flops, B-Town celebs like Shah Rukh and Salman have great brand value. But it's not the same in cricket. If Dhoni has to sustain this number one place, he'll have to play like a champion and make sure that his team wins the upcoming series. If that doesn't happen, his brand value will come down quickly." 

An opinion that Amer Jaleel, national creative head at Lowe Lintas India, doesn't agree with. "With this amazing World Cup win, Dhoni has surpassed everybody, and is the current number one brand of India. And there's a reason why Dhoni will remain the most sought-after celebrity in the ad world - because he has created a distinct image with his Captain Cool avatar, and performance. He is an inspiration for everybody, especially the younger generation. Every youngster wants to emulate Dhoni. He's actually an amazing blend of youth and maturity," avers Jaleel. 

Winning the Cup on the home soil has also come with its advantages for the cricketers. "This makes the win all the more memorable and important. And it's the cricketers who are going to benefit the most from it. Over the next two-three months, the brand value of some of the good performers of the World Cup will double. 

For players like Sachin and Dhoni, it will go up three times, especially for Dhoni. Though the number of brands that approach Dhoni and Sachin may be few, they will pay handsome amounts to these players. Dhoni may charge something between '15-20 crores for an ad," predicts Indranil Das Blah, CEO, KWAN, a leading sports management agency in the country. 

According to Mustafa Ghouse, sports head, Globosport AB, another celebrity management company, "There's no doubt that Dhoni, with his astute captaincy and extraordinary batting skills in the finals against Sri Lanka, has become the biggest brand in the country. 

But there are other players like Yuvraj, Sachin and Sehwag, who'll get a decent share of the pie. And youngsters like Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli, who played a key role in India's victory, will also see their brand value going high simply because they are young and raring to go. This is what the youth of the country relates to the most."

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