MUMBAI: Two Indian cricketers have made it to the Forbes list of World?s 100 Highest-Paid Athletes list, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni earning more than Sachin Tendulkar.

Dhoni ranks 31 in the richie rich list with total earnings of $26.5 million, way ahead of the master blaster who occupied the 78th position with earnings of $18.6 million. A large chunk of their earnings came from endorsements with Dhoni earning as much as $23 million from it compared to Tendulkar?s $16.5 million.

Globally, it?s the boxers who have raked in the moolah with American pro Floyd Mayweather topping the list with $85 million earnings, followed by Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao at $62 million.

Golf icon Tiger Woods, who has been topping the Forbes list since 2001, fell to third spot with $59.4 million, his earnings off by $16 million from the previous year and by half since his peak in 2009.

Basketball star LeBron James is fourth at $53 million, the highest of 13 basketball players on the list. Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer is fifth at $52.7 million followed by another basketball player Kobe Bryant at $52.3 million and US golfer Phil Mickelson at $47.8 million. English football star David Beckham made $46 million.

The top 100 athletes made $2.6 billion.

MUMBAI: Already battling a range of scandals, the Indian Premier League has been hit by yet another one with a leading Hindi news channel claiming that several domestic and international players, both Indian and foreign, along with the team owners are involved in fixing matches.

India TV?s sting operation which was aired on Monday during prime time revealed that the fixing menace is also prevalent in domestic cricket with women playing facilitators role.

As a corrective action, the IPL Governing Council has handed out suspension orders to five uncapped Indian players on Tuesday with immediate effect pending completion of an inquiry.

The decision to suspend Mohnish Mishra, Shalabh Srivastava, T.P. Sudhindra, Amit Yadav and Abhinav Bali was taken after a lengthy tele-conference of top BCCI officials and members of the IPL?s Governing Council.

Incidentally, the news comes just days after the BCCI announced the formation of an anti-corruption unit to be headed by Ravi Sawani, the former chief of the ICC?s Anti-Corruption Unit.

Deccan Chargers? T Sudhindra, according to the channel, had bowled a no-ball in last year?s first class match on their reporter?s insistence. He also assured to change his team in future if he was paid Rs 6 million.

Kings XI Punjab player Shalabh Srivastava demanded Rs 1 million for bowling a no-ball in a IPL match, the channel stated.

Mohnish Mishra, playing for Pune Warriors India, confessed that he was getting Rs 14.5 million from its owner Sahara whereas he was in the Rs 3 million slab.

Many other revelations came to light in the sting operation that probably for the first time in cricketing history, senior and junior cricketers playing in rival teams jointly fixed the outcome of matches.

A clear pattern has supposedly emerged where a particular bowler has bowled easy deliveries and dropped catches, while his ?partner in crime? went on a scoring spree, the channel averred.

The sting operation also brought to light the ?murky? dealings between players and franchises thereby bringing the issue to the fore what was only being spoken in hushed voices in cricketing circles.

IPL players caught during the sting also confessed to receiving more than the prescribed auction amount in the contract through illegal means which makes a mockery of the salary cap guideline laid down by the BCCI.

It needs noting that BCCI had in the past imposed bans on Chennai Super Kings? player Ravindra Jadeja and Royal Challengers Bangalore player Manish Pandey for negotiating with other team owners for a larger financial contract.

It is also widely believed that top players like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni who were retained by their respective franchises have been paid more than the prescribed $2.4 million which franchises are supposed to pay for the first player retained.

The BCCI as usual has released a brief statement vowing to "act against corruption". However, it would be interesting to watch how the world?s richest cricket tackles the crisis.

"Some TV channels have been reporting a story pertaining to alleged unacceptable practices by players participating in the IPL. The BCCI will not tolerate any violation of regulations and any act of corruption," BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a statement.

The complete footage of the ?sting operation,? will be sought, and examined thoroughly, Jagdale added.

India TV Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma on his part assured that it will extend all possible help to the BCCI.

"The BCCI has already asked us to provide the tapes and we are ready to cooperate not only with BCCI but also investigation agencies. We want players to play honestly and respect the fans who literally worship them," Sharma told the press conference that was telecast live on the channel.

He further revealed, "We had been working on this sting since May last year. We started it right after the IPL season IV ended and worked on it till 21 April 2102."

"We first spoke to Deccan Chargers player T P Sudhindra last year as agents of a sports management firm. He opened up very easily and gave us a lot of information on how spot fixing is prevalent in local, domestic and IPL matches.

"We didn?t trust him initially and to prove that it can be done, he bowled a no-ball in one of the domestic matches. Another thing was the revelation that Kings XI bowler Shalabh Srivastava was ready to do spot fixing during the current IPL."

Sharma also pointed out the names of two notables who refused to walk the path of their shamed fellow colleagues.
"However there were players like Kolkata Knight Riders? Rajat Bhatia and Rajasthan Royals? Samad Fallah who didn?t fall for the lure of money and we should appreciate them," said Sharma.

Last year, Pakistan players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were jailed in Britain for their role in spot-fixing during their test match against England at Lords in August 2010. The International Cricket Council subsequently banned the three players for a minimum of five years.

The spot-fixing scam had come to light after the now defunct British newspaper News of the World carried through a sting operation revealed how sports agent Mazhar Majeed boasted of how he could arrange for players to rig games for money.

MUMBAI: Leading DTH operator Tata Sky has associated with Universal Collectabillia to auction four exclusive and unique cricketing memorabilia autographed by Indian cricketers - Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh - on its power on channel ?Channel 100?.

The exclusive and personalised range would include a signed jersey from Dhoni and Yuvraj, a white cricket ball signed by Zaheer Khan and an engraved pen and signed memento by master blaster Sachin. In addition to the memorabilia, the highest bidder would receive a certificate of authenticity issued by UCPL that guarantees that the signatures are genuine and personally signed by the individual player himself.

The auction will begin on 5 May and would take place every Saturday during the month of May 2012. Each memorabilia will have a pre-defined price with the minimum bid starting at Rs 2500. The subscriber with the highest bidding price will become the proud owner of a part of his favourite cricketing star.