`Tendulkar makes money faster than runs’

He is the world’s best One-day batsman and makes money faster than he scores runs, the magazine said in a four-page special supplement on what it called the “diminutive big-hitter of world cricket”.

“He has more fans than England World Cup soccer wonder-kid Michael Owen and possesses the talent to win the World Cup for India,” it said.

At 26, Tendulkar is the “highest paid cricketer,” the supplement said. “He is five million pounds (about Rs 35 crore) and yet not out.”

But unlike sports super stars, the magazine noted, Tendulkar is embarrassed when asked about his healthy bank account, but not coy.

“It is simple. What matters for me is my cricket and nothing else. Doing all these personal advertisements does not make me the most successful cricketer. All that matters is what I do on the field. It all happens because of that. Winning matches for India is what I want to stick to,” he says.

Asked how he copes with expectations of 900 million Indians, he says, “the moment you think of what people are expecting of you, it is very hard to live up to their expectations. If I score 110, they expect 130, the day after, they expect 150.”

“But if I live upto my goals, then I am sure I am doing a decent job for the country,” the diminutive cricketer says of his mission.

The prolific batsman, with 21 One-day centuries and 19 Test hundreds, matches the millions earned by soccer’s super stars, said The London Times.

Unlike in cricket, where he made quick strides, Tendulkar’s forays into big-money started slowly, it said. “Till as recently as 1996, he was in drags, being paid by Action Shoes a lowly contract of 1,650 pound sterling (a little over Rs one lakh) a year.”

Tendulkar’s money transformation was brought about by Connecticut-based non-resident Indian Mark Mascarenhas, head of the communications company Worldtel, the magazine said.

“From a pittance of 1,650 pounds, Sachin was transformed by a guarantee of about five million pound by Worldtel for the rights to exploit his name for five years,” it added.

London Times quoted Mascarenhas as saying: “Earlier, it was the case of not marketing him properly. We raised the stakes.”

They certainly did, the magazine noted, as in less than three years, Worldtel had already raised double the amount on five million pounds paid for advertising fees to Tendulkar.

Now there was a beeline to catch the cricket star and he had signed new sponsorship deals with Philips, Colgate, Visa and Pepsi Cola.

Sports goods giant Adidas had signed Tendulkar for a sportwear deal of estimated 300,000 pounds per annum for a period of six years for marketing his signature brand of T-shirts and shorts, it said. “Tobbacco and alcohol companies have been courting him, but he refuses to sign.”

Tendulkar’s earnings from the sport itself were not insubstantial, The London Times said.

In 1997, he earned more than 82,500 pounds by playing in India’s all 12 Test matches (2,000 pounds per appearance) and 39 One-day internationals (1,500 pounds per match).

Tendulkar also bagged individual prize money in most of the matches. In the 1997 series against Australia, he earned a total prize money worth 3,750 pounds and a further 5,900 pounds and a car in the Sharjah Coco-Cola Cup and to top it all, Pepsi pays him 10,000 pounds for every century he makes, The Times said.