Rs 9 Crore Luxury Villas For World Cup Winning Cricketers

The windfall for India`s World Cup winning cricketers continues with real estate firm Amrapali today announcing villas worth a total of Rs 9 crore as gift to MS Dhoni and his team mates.

Amrapali, which had signed Dhoni as its brand ambassador in 2009 for four years, said the entire World Cup winning Indian cricket team will be given the villas at its luxury township `Amrapali Dream Valley Project` at Noida extension.

"Dhoni was presented with an exotic grand villa covering 2,900 sq ft worth Rs 1 crore, while other team members were gifted villas worth Rs 55 lakh each, covering an area of 1,690 sq ft," Amrapali Chairman and Managing Director Anil Kumar Sharma told reporters.

The construction of the township has started and would be completed in three years, he added.

When asked if there was a possibility of renegotiation of Dhoni`s endorsement fees due to his increased brand equity, Sharma said: "He (Dhoni) is a very generous person, he is not business-minded. Whatever previous commitment he has, will not change. So we will not have any impact because of increase in his brand value."

Ever since the Indian cricket team recreated the history by winning the coveted World Cup after a gap of 28 years, the players have been showered with gifts that include crores of rupees, housing plots, luxury villas and first AC class passes in Railways.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took the lead announcing a Rs 1 crore award for each player and several state governments followed suit.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit announced an award of Rs 2 crore for Captain Dhoni and Rs one crore each for four Delhi players after their historic victory.

Maharashtra government has also announced award of Rs 1 crore each for Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan. Similarly, Punjab announced a cash award of Rs 1 crore to Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh.

The Karnataka government would honour the victorious cricket players with a residential plot each. The Uttarakhand government also promised a residential plot or a house in Mussoorie hill station for Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, who has been a regular visitor there with his family.

Yousuf Pathan and Munaf Patel were honoured with the Eklavya Award by the Gujarat government. The award carries Rs one lakh and a citation.

Dhoni`s home-state Jharkhand said it would give a plot of land to him to set up a cricket academy in the state.

Haryana government said it will honour Sehwag and Nehra with the state`s best sportsperson of the year award. Sehwag and Nehra have their roots at Jhajjar and Gurgaon, respectively.

The Uttar Pradesh government will felicitate Suresh Raina and Piyush Chawla with Kanshiram International Sports award.

Railway has offered the First class AC passes, which would be valid for each member with one companion for unlimited free travel to anywhere in the country.

Even before the final match was played, ICC partner Hyundai had announced to gift its yet-to-be-launched sedan Verna to the Indian team if it lifted the trophy.

On the other hand German luxury carmaker Audi promised a car to the Man of the Tournament, Yuvraj Singh.

PTI