Caught in the backlash
Sponsors cut ties with Rahul, Pandya for sexist remarks
The news of Gillette, a leading men’s grooming brand, dropping the troubled Indian allrounder Hardik Pandya from their list of brand ambassadors has not come as a surprise with sections of corporate India, who are established backers of the sport. Pandya and K.L. Rahul, the two Indian cricketers have been banned from the Indian team pending an investigation into comments they made about women on a TV show last week, which have been condemned as ‘sexist and inappropriate.’
All-rounder Vijay Shankar and young batsman Shubman Gill will replace the suspended Rahul and Pandya in India’s limited overs team, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) has said.
Speaking to Gulf News, Abhijit Sarkar, Head of Corporate Communications and Sports of Sahara Group — who were sponsors of the Indian team for one and a half decades — felt that such behaviour was “unacceptable” from the cricketer and he would have to face the consequences. “With so much money being poured into cricket over the last decade, it seems that the cricketers’ feet are often not on the ground. It’s possibly time for the Indian cricket board to set up a Code of Conduct, which includes sensitising the players about handling the media,” said Sarkar, who was hands-on in dealing with the Indian team, which had the ‘Fab Five’ of Indian cricket at the peak of their prowess.
Asked if they were brought into disrepute by any of the cricketers during their tenure as sponsors of Indian team, it was an emphatic “no” from the senior spokesperson whose company also owned an IPL franchise for three seasons. “During our sponsorship, the team was involved in two controversies but both were restricted to on-field issues. The first one was in 2001 of ball-tampering and the second one was the Monkeygate scandal. On both occasions, we had stood firmly behind the team,” he said.
A brand manager of some of the current young men and women’s cricketers, Medallin Sports, was also not surprised at the all-rounder being penalised by one of his sponsors. “If sporting icons like Tiger Woods or Lance Armstrong can be abandoned by their sponsors for any moral transgression, then how do you expect Pandya to be spared? The multinational companies always have a zero tolerance attitude in such cases,” said Varun Chopra, Managing Director of the company.
Chopra added: “With cricket being a religion in India, top cricketers are regarded as role models. However, if there is any negative vibe going out from them, then such consequences are bound to happen.”