As soon as Sri Lanka won the toss for yesterday’s Micromax cup triangular final; I knew it was time for me to move on. Luckily, I missed the carnage on Indian bowlers. However, the die hard cricket fan in me wanted to watch India bat as there was always a glimmer of hope with Sehwag in his elements. We have seen more than once how he reduces a formidable target into a cake walk for others. Alas, it was not to be. As the match drifted on and only one result was possible. This series cannot be compared to the England Pakistan test series where fortunes of the teams swung (pun intended) by the minute. So, I started to watch the match like a movie buff who watches his favorite movie for an umpteenth time to decipher the finer nuances like the camera angles, bloopers, any other hidden meanings etc. Then slowly I started to see the impact of brands in the game of cricket.
Just before the match; we had all seen pictures of Suresh Raina practicing with Sehwag’s bat; the bat with which he had hit his 99* as well as his blistering hundred. How did I know it was Sehwag’s bat? It was easy; It was a bat having a Hero Honda label (In all probability SG manufactured the bat) with a yellow grip. So, when Raina came in to bat after Yuvaraj fell; I saw that his SG bat looked different. The sticker was bigger and it was more like an over lay. On close up; I saw that it was the same Hero Honda bat of Sehwag and Raina had put an overlay on top which had not covered the oversized Hero Honda sticker. Then, I realized the importance of brand in cricket and the intricacies of what a player should display and what should be hidden. It can range from Cola, Energy drinks to shades, shoes and trousers. We all know that Tendulkar got a contract with Adidas for his bat after his contract with MRF expired. Harbhajan Singh had gone on record that he had used a bat given by Tendulkar when he hit that blistering knock against DC. If you remember, Harbhajan still got time to put a Rebook sticker on that.
In the current scenario; I think England is the most coordinated team and gives the best value to its apparel sponsor Adidas. All the England players wear the Adidas jersey as well as trousers. Most of them flaunt an Adidas shades and the likes of KP, Sturat Broad, Finn and Ian Bell has an Adidas bat contract also. Most of the other England players stick with the traditional English willow makers like Gun & Moore or Gray Nichols. An exception here is that I remember Ian Trott wearing a Nike shoes when he hit his back to the wall 189 against Pakistan. Australians also has an apparel contract with Adidas but it is only restricted to the Jersey. Hence, we see Katich wearing a Kookabura trousers and Watson a GM one. India has a contract with Nike; but most of our players use a Rebook bat, Rebook socks, Nike/Adidas shoes etc. However, our players usually stick with Nike trousers also. I think the worst here would be Pakistan. Yesterday, I saw Imran Farhat walking in with a CA 10000 bat, Albion helmet, CA trousers; GM pads (should have got from Kamran Akmal).
It was an interesting observation to see such things in two matches played yesterday. This means that our cricketers today have much more to think of than the match…
