Quote featured on The Hindu: Thoughts on the IPL Auction

When Delhi swooped in and signed Yuvraj Singh for 16 Crore, it made be question their rationale.

Below are my thoughts, quoted in a Hindu piece by KC Vijay Kumar.

It is not an enthusiasm that everybody shares and Ramanujam Sridhar, a seasoned brand analyst and communication consultant, who is the CEO of brand-comm, countered: “I strongly believe that the picking of Yuvraj, be it the RCB earlier or Daredevils now, is an irrational choice. Too much is being made up about him and honestly in terms of match-winning skills, in recent times players like James Faulkner or a Glenn Maxwell are far better. The thing is Daredevils, after releasing 13 players, were flush with cash, and they could afford to splurge. Now to the question of brands cashing in on Yuvraj’s appeal, even there I beg to differ. To be fair, he is not in the Virat Kohli league. Kohli has a personality now, Yuvraj lacks that and plus he is not doing too many endorsements like Kohli. Be it Yuvraj or even Dinesh Karthik [RCB, Rs. 10.5 crore], the prices they got just cannot be justified. I guess the need for Indian players has skewed their rates because you can only field four foreigners in the playing eleven and that could well be the reason for someone as talented as Aaron Finch [Australia] going for just Rs. 3.2 crore [to Mumbai Indians].”


Read the full article here: Cricketers and their face value

How big are the Ashes?

“Its humongous” says Brad Haddin, “it is huge” says Michael Clarke, “it is awesome” says Hussey in the promos preceding the first Ashes test at the Gabba which are still on ESPN. My mind goes back to 1960 and the first test, though not an Ashes test but arguably the greatest test of all time between Richie Benaud’s Australians and the gentlemanly Frank Worrall’s West Indians. Now that was big! Compared to that the much hyped “clash of the Titans” (if you can call the no.4 and no.5 teams that) has been a damp squib to equal some of our firecrackers from my childhood in the November rain of Madras. On the 16th of December the teams will move to Perth, the scene of former bounce and pace. But if the first two games are any indication, Australia is dead and buried, caught between the confusion of old versus new, plaintive appeals for Shane Warne’s return which remind me of his own fervent efforts in his bowling days to get umpires to nod, Ponting’s struggles making us realize the value of Sachin Tendulkar’s longevity, spinner after Australian spinner being chosen only to be dropped, Hauritz giving away his test kit… What a time to be a pom!! “Are you England in disguise” is the barmy army’s cry and how apt it seems. Australia’s stuttering efforts remind me of the 1992 world cup that was held in Australia- arguably their worst world cup ever, perhaps only to be rivaled by what is going to happen to them in India in February, if their current losing record is any indication. Of course Australia may still win if James Anderson after his paternity leave takes a flight to Atlanta instead of Perth, Swann fractures his spinning finger on the day of the match, Hughes scores a century before lunch and Ponting bats like 2003, 2004, 2005 or 2006 and Australia fields like we all know it can. Now what are the odds of all of this happening mate?

On to the real big game

On the same day in South Africa, the number one and two teams will lock horns- South Africa and India. Even with the confusion surrounding the ratings (Australia moved up a notch after losing the Adelaide test by an innings) there is no doubt that these two teams are superior to Australia at least, by far. South Africa is doing many things right and has its batsmen in form. Of course its ability to get twenty wickets will be in sharp focus, what with our best batsman (or at least the one with the best averages in the last series) batting at no.8! Their bowling against the Pakistanis albeit in the dust bowls of the Middle East was found wanting. They have in their own modest way pointed out India’s none too flattering record in South Africa to an ever obliging media which has lapped up every word. They are talking about Sehwag which is always a dumb thing to do – never sledge the opponent lest they make you grovel as Tony Greig discovered to his horror! Of course they can do one better; they can sledge Sachin and then be forever consigned to no.2 before England dislodges them!

Boring test matches, the order of the day

If Australia had not lost three wickets for two runs (what an achievement) the Adelaide test too would have been a dull, boring draw like the test match at the Gabba, the ones in Sri Lanka and the first two against New Zealand here in India. As sponsors get greedier and insist on matches not being decided in less than five days, draws are going to be the order of the day. Batting averages are going to be inflated to 55 instead of the 50 some time ago and people like me are going to switch off our TV sets. Mark my words, this series against South Africa is not only critical to these two warring teams but to the entire cricketing world. I do hope the wickets give both bat and ball a chance. If South Africa is dumb enough to produce wickets that will aid seam and swing they need to remember that Sreesanth when he is not consumed by madness, can be a force and Zaheer is arguably the best left arm seamer in the world. But it could well be a series dominated by batsmen – whether it will be Amla, Kallis or DeVilliers or VVS Laxman, Sachin and Sehwag who will call the shots will soon be known. But at the risk of stating the obvious, the team that will get twenty wickets will win and one hopes that we set to rest all the doubts that are constantly being raised, not without reason, about us being “lions at home and lambs abroad”.

Here is my prediction

I know how dumb it is to make a prediction before a ball has been bowled. India is going to play the first test without even the benefit of a practice game and we all know how lethargic we are as starters of test series. But I still believe that the Indian team like the English team in Australia has self belief. It has done many things that was only associated with the Australia of old. I think India will scrape through and if Sehwag clicks as he is bound to then we will win in a canter.

Whatever happens, I do hope that it is a darn sight more interesting than the Ashes.

Ramanujam Sridhar
CEO
brand – comm.
Read my blog @ http://www.brand-comm.com/blog.html
Facebook: facebook.com/RamanujamSridhar
Twitter: twitter.com/RamanujamSri

Is the BCCI finally learning?

I have never been a great admirer of the BCCI. The organization {?} is one that you normally associate with “chaos’, ‘confusion’ and even ‘corruption’. It has been known for email leaks, irresponsible media interviews, lobbying and a whole host of undesirable activities. Of course my major grouse with them has been the fact that they do not give a fig for the ultimate consumer, whether he is a person who pays hard earned money to watch matches live or sits religiously in front of the TV set. I recently went to watch the India Australia test match at Bangalore (what a match it was) and was appalled to see the condition of the seats. And mind you these were member’s seats. Of course the World Cup is around the corner, but then in India we specialize in doing things at the last moment, don’t we! Just ask Kalmadi!

The times they are a changing

Yet, the BCCI seems to have woken up to the fact that the Indian test team is number one in the world. They suddenly realized that they could lose their number one status without playing too much test cricket as other countries are busy playing with each other. So the BCCI quickly changed the seven match one day series against Australia to two test matches and three one day internationals. Despite Ponting’s bleatings that this was hardly the ideal preparation for the Ashes, the BCCI had its way. Thankfully, both the teams ensured that this was one of the finest short series that one had seen and the Australians were graceful losers and India got a good lead in the ICC points table.

Of course India bashers are fond of saying that we are lions at home and lambs abroad. The truth as always is somewhere in the middle. But full credit to the BCCI for realizing that the series against South Africa in South Africa could well be the true test championship of the world. Of course Indians have known to be indifferent travelers and much is at stake. So it is proposed that the key Indian players travel early to South Africa to acclimatize. Of course in today’s hurly burly world there is no time for practice games. Incidentally, we need to remember that England is scheduled to play three tour games before the first test at Brisbane.

Be that as it may, I think the first Indian eleven for the first test in South Africa should move earlier to the country to acclimatize. Who knows the BCCI could even request(!) the South African test team to play a practice game against this team at the Wanderers and they might even accept! Of course being an Indian fan, I do know that nothing is certain till it actually happens and this may just be Kirsten’s zeal which may well be nipped in the bud! And who is to prevent some smart sponsor from getting in a few days of commercial shoots with our celebrity cricketers!

Let’s keep hoping and praying that the BCCI is finally understanding its role as something beyond money and sponsorships!