Mahendra Singh Dhoni inks Rs 26 crore deal with Vijay Mallya

Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni signed a whopping Rs 26 crore deal Friday with liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s United Breweries Group bringing him at par with Bollywood superstars like Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan in terms of endorsement fees.

The three-year deal is valued at more than Rs.8 crores per year and the UB Group will start launch advertisements featuring Dhoni just before the 2011 World Cup that starts from February.

With the deal, Dhoni is now at par with Shah Rukh while Aamir is a bit ahead with a his Rs 30-crore deal with telecoms operator Etisalat.

Though UB officials chose to stay mum on the issue, sources said that Dhoni will be associated with McDowell’s soda.

“It is an integrated deal and will go beyond brand endorsements,” a top official from UB said.

The deal was inked through the Arun Pandey-promoted talent management and entertainment firm Rhiti Sports Management, which recently signed a Rs 210-crore contract with Dhoni to manage all his deals.

Dhoni, who led India to victory in the 2007 World Twenty20 championship, was rated the world’s highest paid cricketer by Forbes magazine last year ahead of master batsman Sachin Tendulkar . The Indian captain had earned USD 10 million last year.

Dhoni signed the deal with Rhiti Sports after calling for pitch from six talent management firms including IMG, Percept, PMG Sports, World Sport Group, Purple People and Planman Consulting.

Before the UB deal, Dhoni’s most expensive deal was with Reebok for close to Rs 29-30 crore for a 5-year period, which makes it about Rs 6 crore a year.

He is associated with 22 brands including footwear and apparel major Reebok, beverages and snacks company PepsiCo, real estate group Amrapali, telecom company Aircel and Future group’s Big Bazaar retail chain.