Dhoni at the Ranchi airport before taking the flight to Delhi. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Ranchi, April 24: The man who has made drinking milk a fashion statement will now be seen on the telly endorsing a soft drink.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has entered the brand big league and will soon appear for commercials of Pepsi and Hero Honda.

The dashing wicketkeeper-batsman from Ranchi, who stroked his way to stardom with a scintillating century against Pakistan at Visakhapatnam, said he would feature for commercials with Pepsi and Hero Honda.

Both companies have roped in several Indian cricketers: Sachin, Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan, Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan are some of the men in blue who have endorsed the soft-drink giant. Sourav Ganguly has appeared for Hero Honda, in an ad with Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan.

Dhoni said his contracts were being handled by a firm in Calcutta and negotiations were on with other companies as well. ?I will collaborate with Pepsi and Hero Honda. Talks are also on with Reebok, though nothing has been finalised as yet,? said the 23-year-old, the secret of whose energy is the four glasses of milk he has everyday.

The rising star, however, appeared to have his feet firmly on the ground. ?Although my focus would always be on cricket, I will have to maintain a balance between modelling and the game. I think most of the big players who are modelling for different companies do it in their free time so that it does not hamper their game. I plan to do the same,? said Dhoni, whose rock-star looks have made him the latest pin-up boy of Indian cricket.

The youngster spoke at length on his camaraderie with Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif and Sachin Tendulkar. He said while Kaif helped him a lot with fielding, he got along very well with ?Viru? (Sehwag) as their style of batting was the same.

Dhoni was also all praise for Sachin. ?The perfectionist that he is, he discusses in detail with me the length he is going to bowl before an over. He also helps with other technical aspects of the game,? said Dhoni.

The cricketer, who left for New Delhi today, is scheduled to play a benefit match in the national capital and then go to Mumbai. The team has a over-three month rest which Dhoni wants to utilise with some hard practice sessions.

?The next tour is of Sri Lanka (in July-August). I hope to maintain my performance there as well,? Dhoni said.