Dhoni in Forbes list of world’s highest paid athletes

Agencies/New York

Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni  is the lone Indian sportsman to figure on Forbes’ list of world’s 100 highest paid athletes. He is been topped by American boxer Floyd Mayweather and includes golfer Tiger Woods and tennis stars Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Dhoni is ranked 22nd on the list with total earnings of $30 million and endorsements worth $26 million. His salary and winnings total is $ four million as of June 2014, Forbes said. Dhoni signed bat sponsorship deals with Spartan Sports and Amity University in late 2013 reportedly worth a combined $ four million annually, up from the $1 million Reebok was paying previously, it added.

The earning figures include salaries, bonuses, prize money, appearance fees, as well as licensing and endorsement income paid out during the last 12 months between June 2013 and June 2014.  Mayweather earned $105 million during the past year for 72 minutes of work in the ring for fights against Canelo Alvarez and Marcos Maidana. 

The payday puts Mayweather at the top of Forbes’ annual list of the world’s highest-paid athletes for the second time in three years.

Kallis signs two-year deal with Thunder

Australia’s Big Bash League have gained another big name as veteran South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis signed for the Sydney Thunder for not one but two seasons, his first stint in the tournament.

Kallis, who has retired from Test cricket but not from one-dayers, must be hoping to use this end of year event to boost his World Cup selection chances in February. He played for IPL-winning side the Kolkata Knight Riders this season.

While Kallis did not score as many runs as he would have liked in the IPL, and in T20s in general, it must be said, the KKR bosses cited his influence on the team, and his value to the young players learning from him.

Afghanistan hire Moles as batting coach

The Afghanistan Cricket Board announced this week the appointment of Andy Moles as a batting coach in its preparation for the World Cup 2015.

Moles is a former English first-class cricketer for Warwickshire and Griqualand West in South Africa.

Since his retirement as a player, his international coaching career has included positions with Kenya (2003), Scotland (2005), and New Zealand (2008).

Srinivasan can contest for ICC president post

Indian cricket board president N. Srinivasan can go ahead and participate in the election for ICC president as the Supreme Court yesterday declined to entertain a plea by the Cricket Association of Bihar to restrain him from joining the polls.

Declining to pass any order, the apex court bench of Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and Justice C Nagappan said the earlier “order of the court was clear and there was no conflict”. The election of the International Cricket Council (ICC) is scheduled for June 27.

The court was referring to an apex court’s earlier order by which it appointed legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar as the interim president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to look after Indian Premier League (IPL)-2014 and asked BCCI senior vice president Shiv Lal Yadav to look after other affairs of the board.