role of corporate sponsorship in team selection

Just before the world cup started, I remember arguing with my dad about the role of corporate sponsorship and player seniority on team selection. My dad was of the opinion that certain players are selected in the playing 11 because they have lucrative sponsorship deals. This was particularly the case when the captain and senior players were being sponsored by the same corporation. I remember vociferously arguing that the captain and coach (who supposedly decide the playing 11) would not be influenced by sponsorship, but would play the best team for that game.

I am beginning to have second thoughts on my initial "assessment" of the game and the captain's interests. My case in point is selection of MS Dhoni for the first test match between India and England at Lords. I don't see any sane reason to include Dhoni in this side. He hasn't batted well outside of "home" conditions ("home" includes playing in and against Bangladesh), while Dinesh Karthik has been batting very well over the last year or so. Dhoni failed miserably in the World Cup and batted horribly in the 1st innings at Lords -- in all cases got out to very poor shots. Dravid, during the pre-match interview, claimed that "Dhoni has done no wrong to exclude him" -- I beg to differ! More importantly, if we were really choosing a horses-for-courses team, I don't see a place for Dhoni. Karthik is known to have much better and softer hands behind the stumps, and has been batting reasonably well to deserve a place ahead of Dhoni. Then why include Dhoni as well?? Wouldn't it make much more sense to play Yuvraj, a more recognized batsmen, to bolster the middle order, or include Gambhir so that we can have 2 regular openers in the side.

OH! But that would mean dropping Dhoni which would irk those sponsors who have spent millions in making Dhoni a rock-star!