Revision as of 19:27, 12 March 2019

Brand endorsements

As in 2018

John Sarkar, Women cricketers score in brand arena, November 26, 2018: The Times of India

Ink Lucrative Deals, Endorsements With Cos

It’s not just the playing pitch that Indian women cricketers are making a mark on. Off the field, too, they are raking in the moolah. At least three top players — Mithali Raj, Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur — have signed lucrative endorsement contracts. From peddling fruit juice and flaunting Australian diamonds to promoting cab aggregators and sporting shoe brands — they are doing it all.

Classy Raj has inked a deal with New Zealand-based bat maker Laver & Wood apart from playing brand ambassador for US cab-hailing company Uber and Rio Tinto’s Australian diamonds. Sources said the bat deal is worth Rs 20 lakh. Her teammate, 22-yearold Mandhana has the country’s largest bike maker Hero MotoCorp sponsoring her bat and European footwear retailer Bata has picked her as a brand ambassador. Mandhana, sources said, could be charging anywhere between Rs 40 lakh and Rs 50 lakh per year for an endorsement.

That’s not all. Kolkata-headquartered conglomerate ITC chose Indian T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur as the brand ambassador for its juice brand B Natural to push deeper into Punjab. Kaur, who hails from Moga in the northern state, charges around Rs 10 lakh a day for ad shoots and Rs 15-20 lakh per year for endorsing apparel and footwear, sources said. Tyre maker Ceat, which is one of the heavyweight bat sponsors with top cricketers such as Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane on its payroll, has also signed up Kaur.

Even teenaged batting sensation Jemima Rodrigues has signed up with the Kiwi batmaker Laver & Wood.

“The team’s top-class performance at the global level has made women’s cricket popular among the game’s fans in the country,” said a Hero MotoCorp spokesperson. “Thanks to their consistent performances and the live telecast of the matches, players such as Mithali, Smriti and Harmanpreet have become household names, in the process immensely enhancing their brand value.”

There could be more deals in store. “We already have several individuals from the Indian team being recognised by brands as fit to endorse their products,” said Bunty Sajdeh, CEO, Cornerstone Sport, which manages Virat Kohli.

Companies are finding new ways of cashing in on the grassroots popularity of these cricketers. “A campaign featuring Kaur, which ran as a state-level contest, became a platform to identify and celebrate honest talent among girl children across Punjab in the cities of Bhatinda, Patiala, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Chandigarh,” said an ITC spokesperson. He added, “There was an overwhelming response with 6,431 students participating in events across domains like knowledge, arts and sports. Winners will now compete for becoming the final ‘Harman XI’ in the state-level finals to be held next year.”

The riches did not come overnight. In a country dominated by male cricket lovers who enjoy watching the men’s team play, these women had to up their ante to compete for eyeballs. “The girls have taken a lot of effort off the field,” said current fielding coach of the Andhra Pradesh team Munish Bali, who has spent time training the Indian women’s national cricket team. “They are much fitter now.”

1976-2016: the 3 biggest wins

The Times of India, March 13, 2016

India's record in Women's World Cup, 1973-2013; The Times of India, June 24, 2017

Avijit Ghosh

Test

Teams: India vs West Indies

Venue: Moin-ul-Haq Stadium, Patna

Date: Nov 17, 18 & 19, 1976

It was a low-scoring Test and the scoring rate was excruciating slow. But on each day, Patna’s Moin-ul-Haq stadium was packed to its 25,000 capacity. In the end, India needed just 55 runs to win the game but were precariously perched at 25 for 5. Then women’s cricket legend Diana Edulji, then a debutant teenager armed with a devil-may-care attitude, took charge. Time and again she spanked the ball to the boundary. “I stepped out for the winning hit. But the ball was short and I swept it to the square-leg boundary,” recalls Edulji. Captain Shanta Rangaswamy vividly remembers the victory parade on a bus that crawled through the streets of Patna to the team hotel. “People were lined up on both sides, cheering us,” she says. For India, leg-spinner Shubhangi Kulkarni ended up with best match figures of seven for 57. Wicketkeeper batter Fowzieh Khalili’s 58 was the highest in the game. Brief scores: West Indies (127 & 88). India (161/9 dec & 55/5)

ODI

Teams: India vs New Zealand

Venue: Sedgar’s Park, Potchefstroom, South Africa

Date: April 7, 2005

Not many expected India to get past New Zealand, the defending champions, in an ODI World Cup semi-final. But there’s always a first. India put up a decent 204/6 in 50 overs with captain Mithali Raj leading from the front with an unbeaten 91 off 104 balls. Medium pacer Amita Sharma (3/24) and off-break bowler Nooshin al Khadeer (3/39) caused a Kiwi collapse for 164. “We got a lot of praise for that win,” recalls Raj. She has one regret though: There’s no video recording of that game. For the record, India lost in the final to Australia.

Brief scores: India 204/6 in 50 overs. New Zealand 164 all out in 43.4 overs

T20

Teams: India vs Australia

Venue: Adelaide Oval, Australia

Date; January 26, 2016

When Alicia Healey, niece of the great Australian gloveman Ian, launched a late blitzkrieg powering her team to 140, many thought the intervention was decisive. Only a record-breaking chase would have overhauled the target. But the Women in Blue had other ideas. Young Smriti Mandhana (29 off 25) and Veda Krishnamurthy (35 off 32) kept the target within sight. However, it required a special innings from Moga girl, Harmanpreet Kaur (46 off 31, strike rate: 148.38), to push the visitors past the total set up by the defending world champions. The win laid the basis for the 2-1 series triumph. If captain Mithali Raj’s Team India excel in the 2016 T20 World Cup, it would be fair to say, that’s where it all began.

2016

First T20 series win against Australia: I

January 29, 2016, was a historic day in India's cricket history and this time it was the women making the country proud. The Women in Blue defeated the defending World T20 champions Australia for the first time in a bilateral series in any format. The 2-0 win (in the three-match T20I series which ended 2-1) came at the MCG.

It took 30 years in the making and was much deserved for a team which hasn't looked back since. The progress, according to skipper Mithali Raj, is due to two significant developments in the women's game in India -the introduction of central contracts and television coverage of their first-class matches. “The contract system has played a huge role. The girls are more motivated now. The finances are taken care of and the BCCI also provides us good facilities in terms of the support staff and everything. Also, when domestic matches are televised, it's imperative to put up a good show,“ Mithali said.

Talents such as Smriti Mandhana, who is the first Indian to be selected in the ICC Women's Team of the Year, and Harmanpreet Kaur, who along with , Smriti became the first cricketers from India to play in a foreign T20 league, have brought much-deserved attention to women's cricket in India. The team proved their dominance with the sixth Asia Cup title in as many editions.

II

The Times of India, Jan 30 2016

Ehtesham Hasan

They waited for a central contract for long and when the BCCI finally obliged, the Indian women's team has started delivering great results. They clinched their first-ever T20 series against Australia, outclassing the hosts by 10 wickets (DL method) at the MCG. It was spectacular display by the Ladies in Blue as they not only outbatted, out-bowled but even outfielded the much athletic Southern Stars on their home turf. Two moments on the field typified their gallant display and it came from AnujaPatil. First was an outstanding catch she took of opener Beth Mooney by running backwards and then the run-out of Ellyse Perry when she swooped on the ball at mid-on and broke the stumps with a great throw.

2017

ODIs

May 16 2017, Indian women in record 320-run stand, The Times of India

The Indian women's crick et team scaled several new peaks when openers Deepti Sharma and Poonam Raut put on a world-record 320-run opening stand during a mammoth 249run victory over Ireland in the women's quadrangular series ODI match in Senwes Park, Potchesfroom.

It's the biggest opening stand in ODIs not just for women but even for men.

India scored 3582 and Ireland, in reply , were all out for 109 in 40 overs, handing India's women their biggest victory in terms of runs in ODIs.

Deepti took just 160 balls to score 188 runs -the secondhighest individual score of all time in women's cricket while Poonam scored 109 during their record stand, which lasted 45.3 overs.

Deepti, who hit 27 fours and two sixes, is now India's highest scorer in women's cricket, second only to the alltime highest of 229 not out, scored by Australia's Belinda Clark against Denmark.

Deepti broke the Indian record scripted by Jaya Shar ma, who had scored 138 not out against Pakistan women in Karachi in 2005.

The Indian women's cricket team had not breached the 300-run mark in an one-dayer before this, with their previous highest being 2982 against the West Indies in 2004.

Before Deepti and Poonam's marathon stand, the record for the highest partnership in women's cricket belonged to England's Sarah Taylor and Caroline Atkins, who had put on 268 for the first wicket against South Africa in 2008.

With four victories from four matches, India are now the only unbeaten side in the tournament with wins over South Africa, Ireland (twice) and Zimbabwe. Ireland never looked in the chase as they scored the first fifty in 18.4 overs, losing the wicket of opener Leah Paul (13) in the 17th over. From there on, Ireland kept losing wickets and lost half their side in the 30th over for 75 runs. Their slide continued as they managed to bring up the team hundred in the 37th over before India quickly mopped up the tail.

Left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad (418) scalped four wickets, while Shikha Pandey (316), who had provided the late charge with a 14-ball 27 for India, took three wickets. Earlier, Rachel Delaney (144) claimed the only wicket by an Ireland bowler when she ended Deepti's innings by cleaning up the opener in the 46th over.

Poonam too retired out in the last ball of that over. Ire land's poor show was reflected in the number of extras they conceded -26.

2018

Bangladesh beat India, win Women's Asia Cup

Bangladesh beat India to lift maiden Women's Asia Cup T20 title, June 10, 2018: The Times of India

HIGHLIGHTS

Bangladesh reached the target of 113 off the final delivery of the match

This is Bangladesh's maiden Women's Asia Cup title

With this defeat, India's run of six straight titles has come to an end

Bangladesh stunned India by three wickets in a last-ball finish to win their maiden Women's Asia Cup T20 title at the Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Chasing 113, Bangladesh reached the target off the final delivery to record a historic title win over the defending champions India.

Bangladesh began their chase on a solid footing with the opening pair of Ayasha Rahaman (17) and Shamima Sultana (16) adding 33 in the Powerplay overs. Poonam Yadav brought India in the contest with two wickets in two deliveries to dismiss both the openers. However, unlike India, Bangladesh managed to stitch together little partnerships to keep themselves in the fray.

The spinners, led by Poonam (4/9), did their best to keep the contest alive though. With 66/3 in 14 overs, India found themselves slightly ahead. But the 15th over, bowled by Jhulan Goswami, turned the tables as in it, Nigar Sultana creamed three successive fours to take 16 runs from it. With 31 needed off the final four, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur brought back Poonam into the attack and she delivered with the scalp of Nigar (27).

Injuries to first-choice Shikha Pandey and Deepti Sharma meant Harmanpreet took the matters in her own hands. Her first over, innings' 18th, resulted in a wicket but also brought Bangladesh 10 runs closer to the target. After an excellent 19th over from Poonam, Bangladesh needed nine from the last. Despite losing two wickets in the over, Bangladesh managed to reach the target in a thrilling finale.

That India were able to give Bangladesh a run for their money seemed a distant possibility when they were reduced to 32/4 after being put in to bat. It took a fifth-wicket partnership of 30 runs between Harmanpreet and Veda Krishnamurthy (11) to repair some of the damage. While Harmanpreet continued to wage a lone battle, as she reached a fifth T20I half-century, others failed to offer her any support.

Only four India batters touched double-figures and none barring Harmanpreet crossed 11. She eventually holed out on the final delivery of the Indian innings on 56 which had seven fours in it.

This was the second occasion that Bangladesh defeated India in the tournament after stunning them earlier in the league stage. Thus, India's run of six straight Asia Cup titles (four ODIs and two T20s) came to an end with Bangladesh claiming their first ever.

Brief Scores: India 112/9 (Harmanpreet 56; Rumana Ahmed 2/22, Khadija Tul Kubra 2/23) lost to Bangladesh 113/7 (Nigar Sultana 27, Rumana Ahmed 23; Poonam Yadav 4/9) by three wickets

Harmanpreet captain of World XI, 3 Indians in team

November 26, 2018: The Times of India

India’s women cricket players who signed brand endorsement deals, as in 2018.
From: November 26, 2018: The Times of India

India’s batting star Harmanpreet Kaur was named captain of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 XI, which also featured opener Smriti Mandhana and leg-spinner Poonam Yadav. A selection panel comprising former players and commentators Ian Bishop, Anjum Chopra and Ebony Rainford-Brent, journalist Melinda Farrell and ICC’s General Manager-Cricket, Geoff Allardice, picked the team on the basis of the players’ performances in the tournament. Three players from England, two from Australia and one each from Pakistan, New Zealand and the Windies have also been named in the eleven.

The team: Alyssa Healy (Aus), Smriti Mandhana (Ind), Amy Jones (Eng, wk), Harmanpreet Kaur (Ind, captain), Deandra Dottin (WI), Javeria Khan (Pak), Ellyse Perry (Aus), Leigh Kasperek (NZ), Anya Shrubsole (Eng), Kirstie Gordon (Eng), Poonam Yadav (Ind). 12th player: Jahanara Alam (Ban).

ICC Women’s ODI, T20I teams of 2018

3 Indian, one Bangladeshi and one Pakistani made it to the ICC Women’s ODI and T20I teams of 2018
From: Smriti is ICC Women’s Cricketer of Year, January 1, 2019: The Times of India

See graphic:

3 Indian, one Bangladeshi and one Pakistani made it to the ICC Women’s ODI and T20I teams of 2018

2019

Indian women lose T20 series to England

March 8, 2019: The Times of India

The Indian women's cricket team suffered a five-wicket defeat to England in the second T20 International, surrendering the series with a sixth straight loss in the shortest format. Chasing 112 for an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, England completed the task in 19.1 overs, holding nerves after losing a few quick wickets. England won the first match by 41 runs. Opener Danielle Wyatt was England's star performer with the bat, top-scoring with an unbeaten 64 off 55 balls.

Opting to bowl, England produced a brilliant performance to prevent the hosts from putting up a big score at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, with Katherine Brunt emerging as the most successful bowler.

Brief scores: India: 111/8 in 20 overs (Mithali 20, Deepti 18, Bharati 18; Katherine 3-17, Linsey 2-11) lost to England: 114/5 in 19.1 overs (Daniella 64n.o, Lauren 29; Ekta 2-23).