…..anyone think that if Bhajji was a Pakistani Player or a Sri Lankan Player or a West Indian player or a player in Sunil Gavaskar’s side …. justice would have been done ?
…I am glad that ‘fairness’ and the ’spirit of the game has been vindicated, but… this was not just about justice, it was about money… lots of it…..
Last year, ESPN Star Sports paid the ICC $1.1 billion for eight years of TV rights and production house Nimbus bought BCCI rights for international cricket played in India for $612 million for four years. India is estimated to drive 70% of global cricketing revenues. ESPN Star is estimated to lose $22 million if India calls off its Australian tour.
Australia’s star cricketers earn bigger endorsements in India than in their own country. They could suffer. Ogilvy & Mather executive chairman and former domestic cricketer Piyush Pandey told the Economic Times, “If I was an Australian cricketer endorsing an Indian brand, I would be very, very worried. Right now, there’s a lot of anger and angst.”
India, Australia, Pakistan, South Africa and England represent the biggest cricket markets worldwide in a game played widely in 101 ICC member countries. Non-resident Indians, including millions in North America, form a significant chunk of the global cricket market.
Shailendra Singh, joint managing director of Percept Holdings and a major player in the endorsement markets, was quoted as saying. “Australians are known to be aggressive. But this time the aggression has turned into arrogance. They have damaged their reputation for sure. Indian brands will think twice before signing up any Australian cricketer for endorsements.”
And before we go off and demonise all Australians, for the actions of their cricket team…. remember the voices speaking up for fairness and ‘spirit of the sport‘ and justice … also came from there…
There is are some interesting conversations here, here, here, here and here….
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