Now sponsors don't need any Sahara from players

Now sponsors don't need any Sahara from players

JULY 15: Only last year when the same promoters held a press conference to prove their patriotic credentials by withdrawing from their commitment to sponsor that year's tournament because of the Kargil conflict, the huge hall of a five-star hotel was overflowing with newsmen. On the stage was seated Indian cricket's most saleable and durable product: Kapil Dev. He was flanked on the right by a man whose soaring television ratings could be the envy of any film-star, though the player himself is of very modest talent: Ajay Jadeja.

The two, that day, made an impassioned appeal for boycotting the tournament and announced a benefit match to be played between Indian cricketers and film stars, with a target of Rs 1 crore to be raised from the match and given to the families of the soldiers killed in war. The cricketing heroes, it seemed, had donned a pair of new pads and written over it was `we care for our country.'

A year has elapsed since that day and within that short span the whole world seems to have changed. Yesterday's heroes have become today's villains. There was no Kapil Dev present on the dais no Jadeja around to lend glamour and star-value to the press conference. And, worse still for the cricketing fraternity, the absence of these stars was not something which the sponsors were rueing.

Today, if a newsman spots a cricketer, he is immediately chased and uncomfortable questions on match-fixing are put to him. The occasion takes a backseat and the corruption of the players and the officials is highlighted. It was important for the sponsors to keep the focus away from the `stars' and try to finish off the whole exercise of announcing the fulfillment of a commitment in as short a time as possible.

This incident only reflects a developing hiatus between the sponsors and players and there are serious apprehensions all around, that the goose which laid golden eggs for the game has been killed by greed... of both players and officials.

Has the popularity of the game dipped in India? It may have, judging by the viewers response to the Asia Cup which was held in Dhaka last month. The television ratings fell by half in India. Today it could be far worse as each day brings with it a fresh revelation. It is with great trepidation that television companies and sponsors are waiting for the Sahara Cup to unfold. If the fans turn their back on an India-Pakistan one-day series, then cricket may be heading the hockey way in India.