Steve Waugh to endorse MRF

Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh have, in recent times, been pitted against each other in bar-room debates on who the world's best batsman at this point in time is.

Now the two have a commonality -- both will here on in sport the same logo on their bats.

Word is that MRF, the Chennai-based tyre company, has signed on the Australian captain to sport their logo on his bats.

The signing amount, sources indicate, is somewhat less than what Sachin Tendulkar draws, but the Australian captain is said to have got a deal he is happy with.

The logo will make its first appearance on Waugh's bat in the third Test of the ongoing Ashes series, at Trent Bridge.

It is all hush hush till then, though. So much so that T A Shekhar, chief coach of the MRF Pace Academy and national selector, drew a blank when asked about the signing. "News to me," was all he would say.