Ask any Indian how cricket was three decades ago, the answer will be live radio commentaries or grainy black-and-white Doordarshan images.
Cut to 2013. High-definition telecast on dedicated channels or tweets are the ways youngsters ‘experience’ cricket. Now, the cricket fan analyses every single move of the player through the technology-dominated TV content. At the same time, the fan also accesses YouTube cricket streaming and Twitter and Facebook updates on smartphones or tablets. But from the other side, Sachin Tendulkar is perhaps the only Indian to have witnessed the metamorphosis of cricket from just another game to a ‘commercial property’ in the course of his cricketing career.
When Sachin played his first Test against Pakistan in 1989, Doordarshan did not have the stunning graphics that are the hallmark of today’s competitive telecasts.
But soon enough TV became big and cricket started to evolve as a brand vehicle.
One of the first brands Sachin batted for was ‘Boost,’ though only as a second fiddle to Kapil Dev, the brand ambassador.
As a ‘property,’ cricket rose to prominence in 1993. Sachin reaching the limelight that year in the Hero Cup may have been a happy coincidence, but it was also the first time that cricket was being telecast live on a satellite channel — Star TV. For the first time in India, cricket telecast rights were sold to Trans World International. Till then, Doordarshan had full control over telecast of matches played in India, with the Indian cricket body paying it for production.
To the delight of Indian fans, Sachin was instrumental in taking India to the Hero Cup final, thanks to his last over cameo with the ball against South Africa in the semi-final. In fact, the telecast of the match on satellite TV from Kolkata got a boost when Eden Gardens introduced floodlights.
Then, in 1995, when sports management personality the late Mark Mascarenhas of WorldTel clinched a five-year deal to manage the commercial endorsements and marketing activities of Sachin for around Rs 31 crore, there was much wonder and awe.
This deal perhaps institutionalised the idea of player management and signing on star cricketers for big money.
In one of the media interviews in 1995, Mascarenhas was asked what the deal with Sachin meant for him. The reply was that his company would develop a ‘corporation’ of Sachin.
Major makeover
Cricket’s makeover came with BCCI launching the Indian Premier League in the 20-20 format in 2008. With big industry houses acquiring teams, cricket had fully evolved as a ‘property.’
Sachin went on to become Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance group-promoted Mumbai Indians’ icon. Though several of his contemporaries switched their franchises, Sachin stayed on. Probably Sachin is the only player to have seen the transformation of a pure game to a ‘property.’ Brands may come and go, property may rise or wane, but Sachin the cricketer holds eternal value, bat and ball in tow.