PV Sindhu signs Rs 50 cr sports deal: Non-cricketers too scoring big in endorsements

Agencies
February 11, 2019

New Delhi, Feb 11: With India doing well in a range of Olympic sports in recent years, sportspersons in disciplines other than cricket have also started to score lucrative endorsement deals.

Olympic and World Championship silver medallist P.V. Sindhu is the latest non-cricketer to be associated with a mega sponsorship deal. The badminton star recently signed a four-year sports sponsorship deal for a whopping Rs 50 crore with Chinese sports brand Li Ning.

The record deal comes after K. Srikanth was offered Rs 35 crore over a period of four years by the company last month.

This is not the first time Sindhu and Srikanth have signed deals with Li Ning. According to media reports, both shuttlers were with the Chinese brand earlier before signing deals with Yonex.

Saina Nehwal, the other star women's badminton player in India, has deals with Kellogg, Iodex, Fortune Oil, Top Ramen and NECC.

Boxer M.C. Mary Kom is another non-cricketer to strike it big. The six-time world champion signed a deal with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited in September as their brand ambassador. The two-year deal will see the Olympic bronze medallist engage in promotional activities for BSNL for its various services.

Star athlete Hima Das has also joined the bandwagon. The Asian Games and World U-20 champion signed an endorsement deal with sports equipment manufacturer Adidas in September last year.

The Assam athlete has also become the brand ambassador for YONO, SBI's integrated digital banking platform, and Edelweiss. She has also become the first Indian sportsperson to be a UNICEF Youth Ambassador.

Cricket however, continues to rule the roost. Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli has emerged as the most valued celebrity in the country for the second successive year with an estimated brand worth of $170 million.

Virat signed a Rs 110 crore deal with sportswear giant Puma in February 2017. The agreement is supposed to last eight years. Apart from that, he also has deals with a host of other brands including Wrogn, MuveAcoustics, Too Yumm, Tissot, Manyavar, Royal Challenge, American Tourister, Boost Energy Drink, MRF Tyres, Uber India, Remit 2 India and Philips.

The Delhi batsman had dethroned Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan as the most valued celebrity in India for the first time in 2017.

Italian luxury sports watchmaker Panerai had announced former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as their brand ambassador for India in December 2018.

The Indian women cricketers have also bagged their share of sponsorships with star player Smriti Mandhana being appointed the brand ambassador for Alcon, also in December last year.

The greatest cricketer of them all, Sachin Tendulkar, however, continues to be a hot target for brands even several years after his retirement.

The legendary batsman has sponsorship deals with Pepsi, Boost, Adidas, Apollo Tyres, Luminous Power, True Blue and NECC apart from several other brands.

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News Network
January 14,2020

Sydney, Jan 14: Retired South African big-hitter AB de Villiers on Tuesday said efforts are on to ensure his comeback in the national team for the T20 World Cup in Australia, a plan in which his IPL form will play a crucial role.

Speaking to Cricket Australia's official website 'cricket.com.au', the 35-year-old swashbuckler said he would love to be back two years after calling it quits internationally. He is currently in Australia to play in the Big Bash League.

"I would love to. I've been talking to 'Bouch' (new South Africa coach Mark Boucher), (new director of cricket) Graeme Smith and (captain) Faf (du Plessis) back home, we're all keen to make it happen," he said.

"It's a long way away still, and plenty can happen – there's the IPL coming up, I've still got to be in form at that time. So I'm thinking of throwing my name in the hat and hoping that everything will work out," he added.

De Villiers, nonetheless, is keeping a check on his expectations.

"It's not a guarantee, once again. I don't want to disappoint myself or other people, so for now I'm just going to try and keep a low profile, try and play the best possible cricket that I can and then see what happens towards the end of the year," he said.

"There are a lot of players (involved with CSA) who I used to play with. Guys who understand the game, leaders of the team for many years" he said of the present dispensation.

"So it's much easier to communicate than what it used to be in the past. They understand what players go through – especially players that have played for 15 years internationally.

"It doesn't mean that everything is going to be sunshine and roses, but it's definitely a lot easier and it feels comfortable, the language that's being used and just the feel that everyone has at the moment in South Africa about the cricket," he added.

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Agencies
May 9,2020

Tokyo, May 9: As the world continues to grapple with coronavirus pandemic, the organisers of Tokyo Game Show have cancelled 2020 showpiece event.

TGS 2020 was slated to be played from September 24 to September 27 at the Makuhari Messe convention center. However, there now talks going on for holding an online event instead.

According to the Verge, this is the first time that TGS has ever been cancelled since it started in 1996.

TGS 2020 gained more attention because of its status as the last major trade show before the launch of the upcoming next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

New Delhi, Feb 7: It was on February 7, 1999, that Anil Kumble became just the second bowler in the history of cricket to take all ten wickets in an innings of a Test match.

He achieved the feat against Pakistan at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, now known as Arun Jaitley cricket stadium in Delhi during the second Test of the two-match series.

India had set Pakistan a target of 420 runs in the match and the visitors got off to a steady start as openers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar put on 101 runs for the first wicket.

It was then Kumble who came into the attack and wreaked havoc on the Pakistani batting line-up.

The spinner, also known as 'Jumbo' first dismissed Afridi (41) in the 25th over. After the right-handed batter's dismissal, India kept on taking wickets through Kumble and Pakistan was reduced to 128/6 in no time.

Kumble then kept on taking wickets at regular intervals and he got his tenth scalp in the 61st over after dismissing Wasim Akram.

This effort enabled India to register a win by 212 runs, and Kumble became the second bowler after England's Jim Laker to take all ten wickets in a single Test inning.

Kumble finished with the bowling figures of 10-74 from 26.3 overs.

Kumble announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008 and finished with 619 wickets in the longest format of the game.

He has the third-highest number of wickets in Tests, only behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia's Shane Warne (708).

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