Cricketers become demi-gods and brands they endorse become hot favorites. Every thing sells tagged to these larger than life characters of the game of cricket. Only except the companies that manufacture the bats used by these cricketers.
While companies like MRF, Britannia, and Hero Honda dole out hefty sums to garner fame and glory which a cricketer transcripts before his fans, the makers of the bats remain the non-discreet lot.
It is to be noted that majority of the bats of our international players and of the players of countries like Srilanka , Pakistan , Zimbabwe are actually manufactured at the small-scale or the cottage level in Jalandhar, Meerut or New Delhi . And the names of the makers like BDM, SG, never find a mention. These manufactures can never imagine matching the price tag of the players that runs into millions of rupees these days and as such remain without having being mentioned anywhere.
Meanwhile, all these manufacturers can afford is to mutely cherish the pleasure of being the makers of the most important tool of the game.
“The practice is not only morally unjustified but also not in accordance to law. But bat manufacturers stand little chance before the cricketers and the BCCI, the richest sports body in the world,” rued Rakesh Mahajan, general secretary, All India Cricket Goods Association to FE.
