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Jayasuriya becomes richest cricketer in Asia

In today's cricket, what really calls the tune is money.

And judged by that yardstick, the best batsman -- or rather, the most admired, and looked up to, batsman -- is Sanath Jayasuriya.

For why? Because Pepsi has signed him on for a $300,000 contract -- as opposed to the previous highest, Sachin Tendulkar, who rates $250,000.

This makes Jayasuriya the highest paid of Asian cricketers. And positions him to become the richest international cricketer of them all, given that he is already on contract, for $250,000, to WorldTel.

Pepsi, meanwhile, is also poised to expand its lineup with the likes of Mohammad Azharuddin and Rahul Dravid of India, and Wasim Akram and, hold your breath, Zaheer Abbas of Pakistan.

Given however that Pepsi's biggest market in the Asian sub-continent is India, wouldn't it have made sense to have given the higher contract to Tendulkar? Or possibly Dravid?

No, says a Pepsi spokesman. "By any reckoning, Jayasuriya today is rated the highest, among advertisers, for his explosive batting, and we believe he is more popular in India than even Indian cricketers are."

'Nuff said?