Sachin Tendulkar’s brand power endures, ranks 4th in Kroll’s 2025 list | Business

Sachin Tendulkar has been retired from international cricket for more than a decade, but his appeal in the world of brand endorsements shows little sign of fading.

The former India batter has finished fourth in Kroll’s India Celebrity Brand Valuation Report 2025, with an estimated brand value of $125.9 million. More significantly, Tendulkar has remained inside India’s top five celebrity brands for the second consecutive year, underlining the extraordinary commercial longevity of a sporting career that officially ended in 2013.

Tendulkar is the only sportsperson among the top four, with Shah Rukh Khan leading the rankings at $177.9 million, followed by Ranveer Singh at $162.9 million and Virat Kohli at $158.4 million. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, another retired India great, occupies fifth place with a brand value of $115.3 million.

For Tendulkar, however, the numbers tell only part of the story. His position reflects something considerably harder to build, a level of trust that has remained intact long after he stopped walking out to bat for India.

A decade into retirement, Sachin’s brand remains powerful

Tendulkar retired from international cricket in November 2013 after a 24-year career that transformed him from a teenage prodigy into one of India’s most recognisable sporting figures.

Yet his commercial relevance has not followed the conventional trajectory of a retired athlete.

Instead of disappearing from advertising campaigns once his playing career ended, Tendulkar has continued to feature prominently in brand associations. His fourth-place ranking in Kroll’s latest report suggests that advertisers still see considerable value in having his name and image attached to their products.

The distinction is important. Celebrity value can often be heavily dependent on current relevance, a new film, a sporting season, a tournament or a major public event. Tendulkar’s appeal operates differently.

His career may be over, but the emotions associated with it remain remarkably current.

The ‘Sachin’ brand is bigger than cricket

Few Indian athletes have managed to turn their name into an identity that transcends their sport in the same way Tendulkar has.

For generations of Indians, Sachin was not simply a cricketer. He represented aspiration, consistency, humility and excellence. His record-breaking career created an emotional connection with audiences that went far beyond statistics.

That connection has given brands something particularly valuable: association with a personality whose reputation was built over decades rather than manufactured overnight.

Tendulkar’s commercial appeal therefore rests on more than his 100 international centuries, 200 Test appearances or World Cup triumph. It is built around what consumers believe they know about him.

 
Why brands continue to trust Sachin Tendulkar
 

There is a simple reason why Tendulkar remains attractive to advertisers: risk is low and credibility is high.

Brands looking for celebrity ambassadors are not merely buying reach. They are buying the associations that come with the celebrity’s personality.

Tendulkar’s public image has historically been built around discipline, professionalism and relatively little controversy. That gives companies a dependable figure who can fit into campaigns across categories without fundamentally changing the perception of their product.

A celebrity can have enormous popularity and still be a difficult brand proposition if their public image is unpredictable.

Tendulkar has largely avoided that problem.

His appeal is also remarkably broad. He can speak to audiences who watched him during the 1990s, those who followed his peak years in the 2000s and younger consumers who know him primarily through his legacy, social media presence and association with Indian cricket.

That cross-generational recognition is an asset that few personalities possess.

Trust is the real currency behind his brand value

There is another factor that helps explain Tendulkar’s staying power: consistency.

A successful athlete can spend years building credibility and lose it quickly through a controversial endorsement or public controversy. Tendulkar’s brand, by contrast, has benefited from an image that has remained relatively stable across different stages of his life.

That stability allows brands to borrow from his reputation.

When a company associates itself with Tendulkar, the message is not necessarily just about cricket. It can also be about reliability, achievement, hard work and longevity.

In that sense, Tendulkar’s greatest commercial asset may not be his fame but his trustworthiness.

From cricketing icon to long-term brand ambassador

Tendulkar’s story also highlights how an athlete’s commercial life does not necessarily have to end with retirement.

The traditional sports endorsement cycle often follows an athlete’s competitive career: peak performance brings peak visibility, followed by a gradual decline once the athlete retires.

Tendulkar has effectively challenged that model.

His playing career created the foundation of the brand, but his post-retirement identity has allowed companies to continue using that foundation. He has remained connected with cricket while also expanding his public persona beyond the boundary.

That has made his name less dependent on whether he is currently scoring runs.

The numbers underline the longevity

Kroll’s 2025 rankings provide a useful snapshot of just how unusual Tendulkar’s position is.

His $125.9 million valuation puts him fourth among India’s celebrity brands, ahead of Dhoni, Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, Hrithik Roshan, Amitabh Bachchan and several other major Bollywood names.

He also climbed from fifth in 2024 to fourth in 2025.

The broader list shows that India’s celebrity-brand economy remains dominated by entertainment and sport. Virat Kohli is third with a $158.4 million valuation, while Dhoni’s $115.3 million puts him fifth.

But Tendulkar’s presence carries an additional layer of significance because his active sporting career ended years ago.

A legacy that keeps creating commercial value

The most striking aspect of Tendulkar’s ranking is therefore not that he remains famous. It is that his fame continues to have measurable commercial value more than 12 years after his retirement.

That suggests his brand has moved beyond being dependent on sporting performance.

Tendulkar no longer needs a century, a World Cup or a major cricketing milestone to remain relevant. His career itself has become the asset.

For brands, that offers something rare: a celebrity whose credibility was accumulated over decades and whose public image continues to resonate across generations.

And perhaps that is the clearest explanation for why Sachin Tendulkar continues to sit among India’s five most valuable celebrity brands. The runs stopped in 2013. The Sachin Tendulkar brand never did.