Now, luxury villas worth Rs 9 cr for Team India

New Delhi, Apr 5 (PTI) The windfall for India's World Cup
winning cricketers continues with real estate firm Amrapali
on Monday 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 here.
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.

DHONI-LD-VILLA 2 LAST
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.