Ace cricketer Harbhajan Singh on Wednesday sold licensing rights to his nameas a brand to Delhi-based License India for anundisclosed sum.

The deal, whichhas been dubbed as the first in the history of Indian cricket, could see theoff-spinner's name being used in various types of merchandise and even in chainof restaurants as 'Bhajji Da Dhaba'.

"Licensingis a $191 billion business worldwide, although it is still nascent in India.Harbhajan is one of the most recognised faces of Indian cricket and we havesigned an agreement with him to licence his brand name," License IndiaPresident Gaurav Marya said.

He said thecompany would explore avenues to design and develop the brand 'Harbhajan' withestablished firms in the field of merchandise, manufacturing and retail,besides franchise operators.

"It isvery important to have one's own brand and having merchandise and a restaurantchain with my own name bring me closer to my fans," Harbhajan Singh said. Askedabout future plans with his brand, Singh said: "There will be lot ofsurprises, not just in apparels and accessories but in other segmentsalso."

A brand ownerwould help during post-retirement years "when established brands do notask for frequent endorsements," Singh quipped in a lighter vein.

Singh is thefirst cricketer to have signed a licensing agreement with License India. It hadearlier entered into agreements with management guru Shiv Khera and thechildren's book series Diamond Comics.