)
In the last few years, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has emerged as a hunting ground not just for the national squad, but also for advertisers. The tournament threw up players such as R Ashwin, Murali Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Manoj Tiwary, many of whom caught the eye of advertisers. Manoj Tiwary, for instance, was roped in as brand ambassador of sports apparel manufacturer Puma.
This year, the list of candidates who might make it big in IPL includes Naman Ojha, Manvinder Bisla, Mithun Manhas, Shadab Jakati, Manish Pandey, Swapnil Asnodkar and Ambati Rayudu.
Shailesh Kapoor, chief executive officer and co-founder of media insights firm Ormax Media, says, "A good performance in IPL can catapult a player into the Indian team. From there, the player has to be consistent enough to ensure he becomes attractive to advertisers. But yes, there is no denying quite a few players made it to the national squad in the recent past due to their IPL performances."
People in the know say players such as R Ashwin, Murali Vijay and Ravindra Jadeja are being wooed by advertisers, as they are part of a new brigade that has slowly but steadily begun to assert itself in the national team, even as veterans such as Yuvraj Singh, Virendra Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Gautam Gambhir begin to fade.
Indranil Das Blah, partner at celebrity and sports management firm CAA Kwan, says, "There have been a few inquiries for Ashwin and Jadeja. At the moment, these are in the preliminary stage. But yes, the interest is certainly there." He declined to specify the names of companies that had approached the players.
Bunty Sajdeh, chief executive officer, Cornerstone Sports & Entertainment, which represents Murali Vijay says, "Following his (Vijay's) recent performance against Australia, there have been expressions of interest from advertisers. But, to seal a few deals, we are looking at a few more knock-out performances from Vijay."
Typically, players who make it the national squad through good IPL performances aren't very expensive---they could charge Rs 10-15 lakh per brand, depending on how keen the company is to sign them.
