Dhoni with $26.5 mn is ahead of Tendulkar in earnings game: Forbes

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.