Mumbai: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar will soon be rubbing shoulders with golfing legend Jack Nicklaus and former Formula One champion Jackie Stewart as the latest brand ambassador for the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS).

As an RBS ambassador, Tendulkar will help raise awareness of the brand across the Asia Pacific region.

"It is indeed a great honour to join a select and prestigious group of sporting stars like Sir Jackie Stewart, Jack Nicklaus and the other sports personalities who currently are RBS ambassadors. Cricket is my absolute passion and I am looking forward to an exciting home season of cricket with Australia and England," Tendulkar said in a statement.

RBS also announced that it will be an associate sponsor of the four-match Test series between India and Australia starting Oct 9. They will also be an associate sponsor of the India-England series in the month of November.

"We are very pleased to welcome RBS as sponsors for the forthcoming series of international Test matches against Australia and England. RBS' global heritage of sports sponsorship and commitment towards India will surely help develop the game domestically and on the global stage," said Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Indian cricket board.

RBS Group's Asia Pacific chairman John McCormick, said: "We are extremely excited that Sachin Tendulkar has agreed to become an RBS ambassador. As one of the world's true sporting legends with fans across the globe, Sachin is the perfect ambassador for RBS. He represents everything we admire in sport - focus, determination and achievement."