…..anyone think that if Bhajji was a Pakistani Player or a Sri Lankan Player or a West Indian player or a player in [tag]Sunil Gavaskar[/tag]’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, [tag]ESPN Star Sports[/tag] paid the [tag]ICC[/tag] $1.1 billion for eight years of TV rights and production house Nimbus bought [tag]BCCI[/tag] rights for [tag]international cricket[/tag] 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 [tag]global cricket market[/tag].
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 [tag]cricket[/tag] 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….
That is exactly as it is with everything else in life. 🙂 Money does make the world go round.
Not only do the Australian star cricketers earn bigger endorsements in India than in their own country, they also get to sing with legends like Asha Bhonsle 🙂 They can forget about getting endorsements at least for a few months. We can be friends again after that.
.. and round… and round….
🙂
Hi Prerna,
lol….. i find it difficult to dislike the Australians – except maybe for their cricket team…
every time i think of Australia i have this image of a giant goofy kangaroo… and how can you be mad with a giant goofy kangaroo…..
Ponting, poor fellow, is only doing what he’s been taught to do in the highest traditions of Australian sport. The real culprits are the Aussie media and public, who have suddenly turned against him. The media have always supported his behaviour, now suddenly they are against him. He’s still make the old noises of hard but fair, (we play as hard as we like, but you niggers better play fair) since no one told him the script has changed. The guys got 3 neurons (2 for pig-headedness, one for running after the ball) for gods sake – give him a break..
the australian player who actually heard baaji use the offensive term refused to testify ‘cos he earns astronomical amount from indian endorsements. guess his endorsement money will skyrocket as reward for keeping his mouth shut.
no power like money power:–))