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
July 21,2020

Jul 21: The tickets sold for the now-postponed ICC T20 World Cup will remain valid if Australia hosts the edition in 2021 instead of India.

In case the event is shifted to 2022, all ticket-holders will be entitled to a full refund, the ICC stated on its website on Monday night after postponing the mega-event this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The tournament was to be held in October-November but will now be conducted later because of the pandemic.

The ICC has not yet announced which country will host which edition as there are operational issues that both the Indian and Australian cricket Boards need to sort out.

The world body had opened ticket booking through its ticketing partners and a significant number was already sold.

"Ticket holders are welcome to retain their tickets, noting, if Australia hosts in 2021, tickets will remain valid for fans who have already bought and will be automatically updated to reflect the new dates.

"If Australia hosts in 2022, for tickets already bought a full refund will be processed automatically," ICC stated in a series of FAQs.

Fans can retain their tickets until a date is confirmed for the event.

Refund requests can be made until December 15 and they will be processed within 30 days after an online submission.

The hospitality package will also remain valid for the 2021 fixtures.

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News Network
June 9,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 9: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has said that Virat Kohli understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come through success in the longest format of the game.

Dravid, popularly known as 'The Wall', also said that Test batsmanship has become exciting to watch now as batters play aggressive shots more often.

"I actually believe Test batsmanship has become more exciting than before, the aggressive element of Test batsmanship is going forward, players are playing shots and it is good to see, a good thing for India is Virat Kohli really values Test cricket, he understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come from his success in Test cricket," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

He also said that defensive batting in cricket is not irrelevant, but added that players can have successful careers without having a good defensive technique.

"I don't think it is becoming irrelevant, maybe the value of defensive batting is not the same as it was a generation ago, it can never become irrelevant, I think you still need to defend your wicket if you want to score suns, I feel now you can survive without a good defensive technique in cricket," Dravid said.

"Today, you do not need to have a good Test career to have a successful career, look at the best players in the world today, a lot of them have a good defensive technique and they can play out difficult periods of the game," he added.

The 47-year-old Dravid also said that all young players want to represent their country in all three formats during their initial days, but eventually, they become realistic as time passes by.

"I would say in my interaction with the younger players, everyone's hero is someone who has succeeded in all formats of the game. I think all players start off wanting to play all formats, but then guys get a little realistic about their careers, superstars of the game will still want to play to all formats of the game," Dravid said.

Dravid is the only player in the history of cricket to be involved in two 300-plus ODI partnerships.

He played 164 Tests, 344 ODIs and one T20I for India. Dravid had announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2012.

He finished his career with 48 international centuries.

He has also coached the Indian junior sides (India U-19 and India A) and he is now the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Dravid has also led the side during his playing days and under his leadership, the side had managed to register their first Test series win in England.

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News Network
May 29,2020

Kolkata, May 29: Former skipper Kumar Sangakkara believes missing Angelo Mathews due to an injury hurt Sri Lanka badly in the summit clash of the 2011 World Cup, which hosts India won after a gap of 28 years.

Having played a key role in their thrilling semifinal win against New Zealand, Mathews was forced out of the final against India at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium by a quadriceps muscle injury.

Reflecting on the six-wicket loss to India, the former Sri Lankan captain said Mathews' injury forced him to opt for a 6-5 combination and was also the reason behind his decision to bat first after winning the toss.

"In that WC final, that's the biggest thing I look back and think...You can talk about drop catches and all of that happens. But the composition of the side and the fact that we were forced to make the change was to me the turning point," Sangakkara said in the latest episode of Instagram series 'Reminisce with Ash' hosted by India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Mahela Jayawardene's unbeaten 103 went in vain as India hunted down 275 with Gautam Gambhir setting up the chase with a 97-run knock before skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni finished off in style, smashing Nuwan Kulasekara for the winning six in his unbeaten 91.

"But for 100 per cent, if Angelo (Mathews) had been fit, I know for sure we would have gone for chase... I'm not sure whether the result would have changed. That balance of team that Mathews would give at seven really was a bonus," the former wicketkeeper batsman said

"If you take our entire campaign, whatever we did Mathews' overs and his ability to bat with the tail and read situations was an incredible bonus to us. He was a young chap who came into the side and from day one he could read situations. It's just instinct, how to up the rate, how to control the bowler, when to accelerate."

During the conversation, Ashwin also asked him about the controversial toss when the coin was flipped twice amid the cacophony of the Wankhede and eventually Sangakkara elected to bat.

"The was crowd was huge. It never happens in Sri Lanka. Once I had this at Eden Gardens when I could not talk to the first slip and then of course at the Wankhede. I remember calling on the toss then Mahi wasn't sure and said did you call tail and I said no I called head.

"The match referee actually said I won the toss, Mahi said he did not. There was a little bit of confusion there and Mahi said let's have another toss of the coin and heads went up again," he said.

"I am not sure whether it was luck that I won. I believe probably India might have batted if I had lost."

The loss prolonged Sri Lanka's wait for another world title as yet again the 1996 champions failed in the final hurdle.

"Whether we win or lose, we have this equilibrium on how to take a win or loss. The smile hides a huge amount of sadness, of disappointment, of thinking of 20 million people back in Sri Lanka who had been waiting for this for so long, since 1996.

"We had an opportunity in 2011, opportunity in 2007, then T20 opportunities in 2009 and 2012," Sangakkara said.

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