THE country's highest ever medals haul -101 to be precise, which included 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals -at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Delhi has thrown open a number of options for brands and companies on the lookout for cost-effective alternatives to the bunch of cricket and Bollywood celebrities used ad nauseam.

Talent management companies foresee a huge demand for pugilist Suranjoy Singh and shooter Gagan Narang as also an increased pay cheque for badminton star Saina Nehwal.

Others who are in high demand include boxer and Olympic champion Vijender Singh and wrestler Sushil Kumar, the latter now also a world champion and CWG gold medallist, and new boxing stars Paramjit Samota and Manoj Kumar.

"India is slowly but surely moving from being a cricket nation to a sporting nation. FMCG brands, especially for balms, and brands for products like tractors, trucks, utility vehicles, engine oils, mobile handsets as well as real estate and services brands are very keen on hiring sports stars today," said Devraj Sanyal, Group CEO of Percept Talent Management.

Sanyal explained the demand for non-cricket personalities by sharing the example of Krishna Patil, the first Maharashtrian woman to conquer Mount Everest, who has been appointed by top FMCG companies. He, however, declined to name the FMCG brand.

Sushil Kumar is already endorsing three brands Body Fuelz (a sports nutrition brand), Sa hara and Eicher Tractors. Recently, he and Vijender were signed up for campaigns by the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) and Pepsi, respectively.

Among the latest deals signed by Saina Nehwal are Herbalife, a direct selling company for nutrition and energy products and fitness supplements, and Fortune Plus edible oil from Adani Wilmar group. She is also in talks with two other health brands and a real estate company.

According to brand consultants, just after CWG, the top three FMCG companies in the country and a top 5 mobile services company have already signed up all the gold winners for their next campaign at a cost of Rs 3-5 lakh per person. Some others, they say, are planning felicitation campaigns for them. However, th names of the com panies were not available at the time of filing the story.

Industry trackers predict stars like Nehwal, who generally charges around Rs 60-75 lakh per assignment at present, may see her pay cheque grow by 15-20 per cent following her CWG gold medal.

Sushil Kumar, who generally charges Rs 10-15 lakh, may also see a hike.

On the other hand, Rs 1 crore charged by shooter Abhinav Bindra, Rs 50 lakh charged by tennis player Sania Mirza and Rs 25-35 lakh charged by Vijender Singh will remain static for sometime, given the lack of a gold medal in their kitty this time.

Narang's debut charge is estimated at Rs 15-20 lakh, while Suranjoy Singh may start with Rs 10 lakh.

For Paramjeet Samota and Manoj Kumar, the starting amount may not exceed Rs 5 lakh, say in dustry ex perts.

Man ish Porwal, managing director of HR and talent solutions firm Alchemist, felt that the fresh faces which came up at the CWG will be used by smaller brands strategically and by bigger brands more as add-ons.

"Just like after the last Olympics, Samsung used Abhinav Bindra for some of its commercials but had to phase him out gradually and get in Aamir Khan," he said.

Indranil Das Blah, vicepresident, KWAN Entertainment & Marketing, felt that India "tends to forget" sports performances very fast. "The newbies have to maintain consistency in performance in the coming Asian Games and the next Olympics to get visibility and recognition," he said.