Sachin Tendulkar strikes Rs 40 cr, two villas in new endorsement deals

PUNE/BANGALORE: It must be the greatest start Sachin Tendulkar ever had: earning Rs 1.5 crore a day! In the first 27 days of 2011, the Little Master has won Rs 40 crore and two villas in new endorsement deals. If only he could match the strike rate on the pitch during this World Cup!

Indian cricket's little big man has signed deals with Pune-based real estate company Amit Enterprises for Rs 9 crore and apparel maker S Kumars Nationwide (SKNL) for Rs 12-13 crore, within days of Coca-Cola announcing a Rs 20-crore, three-year contract with the top batsman.

Tendulkar's deal with the Rs 250-crore developer includes two villas, priced at Rs 2.5 crore each, in Amit Enterprises' upscale housing project.

"We have taken Sachin as our brand ambassador because we are not known outside Pune, and his association with us should help when we start projects in Mumbai and Nashik," Amit Enterprises chairman and managing director Kishor Pate (Wani) said. The company plans to enter Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai, he added.

SKNL , which already has high-velocity brand ambassadors such as Shah Rukh Khan for Belmonte and Amitabh Bachchan for luxury suitings brand Reid and Taylor, believes Tendulkar can help its economy brand, World Player, break into the value segment for men and become a pan-Indian brand.

"The timing of the World Cup is purely coincidental to the endorsement," SKNL's apparel and retail director Ashesh Amin said.

Tendulkar's association with the brand will extend to incorporating his personal tastes with respect to colours as well as the look & feel of the brand. "Tendulkar is a go-getter. His dedication and attitude fits into World Player's brand values," Amin said.

Last week, Coca Cola signed Tendulkar as its 'happiness ambassador', laying the pitch for a Tendulkar-M S Dhoni face-off in the cola battlefield this season. "Sachin Tendulkar will play his part in the company's various strategic communication initiatives including its corporate, CSR and brand campaigns," Coca-Cola said in a statement.

PepsiCo has already released a high-visibility campaign featuring the Indian cricket captain Dhoni. Sachin had endorsed PepsiCo for close to a decade before being dropped two years ago as they felt he did not fit their 'youngistaan' campaign theme.

Tendulkar endorses 17 brands, including Adidas , luxury Swiss watch maker Audemars Piguet, Canon, ITC, Aviva Life Insurance , RBS and appliances major Toshiba. He charges about $1 million per year per deal. His endorsements are managed by sports management firm World Sport Group.

Other cricketers like Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli are also learnt to be on a signing spree, and are on the verge of signing two-three deals each. Details of the same were not available.

Read more: Sachin Tendulkar strikes Rs 40 cr, two villas in new endorsement deals - The Times of India http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-company/corporate-trends/sachin-tendulkar-strikes-rs-40-cr-two-villas-in-new-endorsement-deals/articleshow/7375190.cms#ixzz1CJYklgDe

Tremlett gets contract boost after Ashes heroics

London, Jan 25 (AFP): England pace bowler Chris Tremlett has been given an incremental contract for the 2010-11 season after his fine performances against Australia helped retain the Ashes.

After being cast into the international wilderness for several years, Tremlett took his chance following Stuart Broad's injury in Australia.

The 29-year-old Surrey star took 17 wickets in the final three Tests as England completed a 3-1 Ashes victory over their old rivals.

Incremental contracts are awarded on a points basis. Five points are awarded for a Test cap and two for a one-day international or Twenty20 appearance. Any player who accrues 20 points automatically earns a contract.

And Tremlett's appearances in the three one-day internationals in the current series against Australia, allied to his Ashes outings, put him beyond that threshold.

ECB national selector Geoff Miller said: "The selectors are delighted with the contribution Chris has made in both forms of the game."

"His return of 17 wickets from three Test Matches in Australia was an outstanding effort and he can be very proud of the role he played in helping the team retain the Ashes."

Sean Ervine leaves Zimbabwe World Cup squad

Harare, Jan 26 (AP): All-rounder Sean Ervine pulled out of Zimbabwe's squad for personal reasons on Wednesday, dealing the team's World Cup hopes a major blow.

Ervine quit English County side Hampshire two weeks ago to play for Zimbabwe for the first time in seven years but he intended to return to Britain. His younger brother Craig remained in the World Cup squad.

Sean Ervine was replaced by Tinotenda Mawoyo, an opening batsman and wicketkeeper who received two one-day international caps against Bangladesh in 2006.

Zimbabwe head selector Alistair Campbell said he was saddened by Ervine's withdrawal.

"Zimbabwe Cricket was very excited about Sean coming back into the setup. However, he may not have realised that international cricket is a lot harder than he remembers," Campbell said in a statement.

"He has lived a very comfortable life in county cricket for the last six years and obviously decided at the last minute he might not be up to the challenges of international cricket after all."

The 28-year-old Ervine played five Tests and 42 one-dayers from 2001-04, until he was involved in a players' dispute with national cricket administrators and left the country.

Mawoyo, 25, captained Zimbabwe Under-19s at the 2003 Youth World Cup in Bangladesh and was stripped of the Zimbabwe 'A' captaincy for disciplinary reasons in 2007.

He has been enjoying good first-class form of late and was named as a non-travelling reserve for the World Cup.

Zimbabwe opens against defending champion Australia on February 21 at Ahmedabad and was in Group A beside New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Canada and Kenya.

Eden Gardens loses India-England World Cup match for lack of preparations

MUMBAI: It was paradise lost for the City of Joy as the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday declared the Eden Gardens unfit to host India's World Cup group league match against England slated for February 27. With the renovation work progressing at snail's pace, the ICC team which carried out a final inspection of the Eden Gardens on Tuesday, gave the historic stadium a thumbs down in its report.

The ICC has requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to suggest an alternative venue so that the match can be shifted there. But late in the evening Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) who should cop much of the blame for the sordid mess, came up with two suggestions to keep the World Cup matches at Eden.

The first is a swap deal with another association that will allow Eden to host a different match at a later date in exchange for the England match. In another move, he has offered to hand over a 'match-ready' Eden Gardens on February 7 to the ICC. Dalmiya, who has maintained that the Eden would be ready in time to host the February 27 match, said that the extra few days gained would help the CAB to have everything in place to play the perfect host.

The BCCI, on its part, has asked the CAB president to make a written submission in this respect which will be duly forwarded to the ICC, the tournament hosts. All this, however, may not cut much ice with the world body. From all available indication, the swap deal which may upset the entire World Cup schedule, is a non-starter as far as the ICC is concerned. And regarding Dalmiya's offer to hand over Eden by February 7, the ICC will strictly go by the report of its venue-inspection team, which will visit Kolkata again on January 31 to ascertain Eden's preparedness to host the other three non-India matches, scheduled there in March.

If the ICC team finds the pace of renovation work unsatisfactory, it is likely to move the Ireland vs South Africa (March 15), Ireland vs Holland (March 18) and Kenya vs Zimbabwe (March 20) matches out of Kolkata and it would be up to the BCCI to reallocate them.

The ICC, which surprised many by provisionally clearing the newly-renovated Wankhede Stadium despite concerns about the pending work, now wants Mumbai to host the India vs England match.

This compounds the problems for BCCI which faces a logistics nightmare. If the ICC takes all the matches away from Kolkata, the BCCI will have to find four suitable slots without disturbing the World Cup schedule and four willing centres to host these matches. Finding a venue is no big deal for the BCCI, especially as many of its affiliated units are keen to host the India-England game. Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Nagpur - which are all scheduled to host India matches - want to host an additional one. So does Ahmedabad, which will be hosting a quarterfinal. Mohali, which has been allotted a semifinal, has also made a strong pitch to host the England game.

The BCCI office-bearers are likely to meet on Monday to finalize the relocation of the Eden match.

Earlier in the day, the ICC pulled the plug on Eden Gardens. "Regrettably, Eden Gardens has not made sufficient progress to justify the level of confidence required to confirm that the venue would be ready in good time," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement. "All venues had ample time in which to prepare for World Cup matches," said Lorgat.

"We had been understanding and had provided extensions to the deadline dates but unfortunately we are now at a point where we must carefully manage our risks," he added.

The ICC decision is bound to cause intense disappointment among the cricket-crazy fans of Kolkata, 66,000 of whom were expected to fill the new-look Eden during the India-England game. The ICC move clearly took CAB bosses, who were confident of getting the stadium ready in time - CWG style - for the February 27 match, by surprise.

The ICC said concerns are mainly over "cricket operations, media, broadcast and sponsorship facilities" that were not finalized or confirmed by the CAB as hundreds of labourers have been toiling day and night to finish building two new blocks of stands which are still covered in scaffolding.

Until Thursday's ICC ruling, the CAB had been dismissive about Eden's lack of preparedness for the big occasion, with Dalmiya himself going on record on Tuesday, saying, "It appears that ICC team is happy after the inspection of the venue. The match is on 27th (Feb), we have to finish the work before the match."

On Thursday, a rattled Dalmiya lashed out at the ICC and the BCCI. Maintaining that the ground is match fit, Dalmiya termed the decision to shift the match as a "conspiracy" against Bengal cricket.

Read more: Eden Gardens loses India-England World Cup match for lack of preparations - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/world-cup-2011/news/Eden-Gardens-loses-India-England-World-Cup-match-for-lack-of-preparations/articleshow/7375066.cms#ixzz1CId39BEy

Was IPL auction fair? Mumbai Indians raise questions

MUMBAI: Until now, there were just rumours. Now, it seems that the IPL players' auction on January 8 and 9 could well have been rigged. Or so it would seem if you look at the angry letter that Mumbai Indians have shot off to every member of the IPL's governing council, demanding an explanation for the last-minute changes to the auction process. They have categorically stated that the changes were not only unjustified but also unacceptable.

The three-page letter, a copy of which is with TOI, points out that most franchises were taken by surprise when they were told about a change in the rules in the January 6 briefings, a day before the auction.

In the first briefing on December 17, the franchises were told that the players would be arranged in pre-defined sets. The plan, they were informed, would be to start with the marquee players and then move to sets of same specialization (meaning: batsmen, bowlers, allrounders etc).

Critically, they were told that "the order of all these sets will be determined by (a) random draw that will take place in the auction room."

At 5 pm on the eve of the auctions, though, the franchises received another email - just two hours before the GC was to take them through another briefing. It said: "An updated version of the auction briefing (has been sent). The only changes are in paragraphs 37 and 38. Please read as paragraph 38 will impact your strategy."

The MI letter says "the so called updated version of the auction briefing reads as follows: The final sentence of paragraph 18 is to be deleted. The sets will be presented to the Auction in order of the auction list (which need not have same speciality players in the same set)".

MI claim that the 'amended' rule resulted in a fundamental change to the auction process as "selection of sets at random" was substituted by a 'pre-decided order of the auction list'."

The primary purpose of deciding the order of auction (whether for subsequent sets or players within sets) through a random draw in the auction room in presence of bidders was to ensure transparency and a level-playing field. In the changed scenario, certain individuals or franchises could have been privy to the exact sequence of the auction which would have allowed them to plan better. More significantly, if they got this information earlier, they could have waited for the right moment to bid for the right player.

Therefore, MI says "Any last-minute change can have justification if, and only if, strong justifiable and emergent reasons can be demonstrated to be present" and adds further "we see a complete absence of such reason or justification. Kindly let us know how and whose instance these changes were introduced."

It should be mentioned here that Chennai Super Kings owner N Srinivasan sat as a member of the GC at the auctions even as his team bid for players and, as TOI had reported on January 10, franchises had already started murmuring that they were unhappy about last-minute changes.

Srinivasan's family owns the franchise even as he happens to be a GC member, BCCI secretary, its president-elect and president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA). Interestingly, CSK successfully managed to bid for all premier Tamil Nadu cricketers.

TOI had also questioned GC chairman Chirayu Amin about the same on January 10, to which the answer was a meek one: "We always ensure complete transparency. If any franchise feels otherwise, they are free to mention it."

The agenda of the meetings were approved, the quorum and minutes were recorded, the basis - if any - on which order of sets in auction list was determined. Then, MI's question to the GC is "Who authorized to amend these rules and what was the source of such authority?"

If Amin says there was complete transparency, then why are these questions coming out of the closet now?

TOI

Paes-Bhupathi enter Australian Open final

MELBOURNE: Reliving their old magic, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi earned a chance to complete their Grand Slam cabinet by reaching the men's doubles final of the Australian Open on Thursday.

The third seed Indian Express, as they are known, pipped the second seed pair of Belarusian Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor of Canada 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 in the semifinal at Melbourne Park.

They will play against top seed American twins and double defending champions Mike and Bob Bryan in the summit clash.

The Bryan brothers eased past unseeded duo of Eric Butorac and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-3, 6-2 in 54 minutes in their semifinal.

Paes and Bhupathi decided to rejoin the forces after nine years to win that elusive Australian Open trophy, at the start of the season.

They came into Australian Open in a good nick as they clinched the Chennai Open at home.

Paes has won 12 Grand Slam titles and Bhupathi 11 in their respective careers but they have never won Australian Open men's doubles trophy.

Interestingly, Bhupathi has not won a men's doubles Grand Slam title since 2002 US Open with max Mirnyi.

Paes and Bhupathi last played together at a Grand Slam at Australian Open in 2002 when they reached the second round.

Paes and Bhupathi had to sweat a lot against Mirnyi and Nestor as both the pairs fought tooth and nail before the Indians prevailed.

There was hardly anything to separate the two teams as they broke each other twice in the opening set, which was decided through a tie-break in the favour of the Indians.

Paes and Bhupathi had their chances to clinch the issue in straight sets but squandered two breakpoints and dropped their own serve once to allow their rivals to take the match to the third set.

They did not repeat the mistake in the deciding set and converted the first available chance to open up lead and end on the right side of the result after two hours and 20 minutes.

Read more: Paes-Bhupathi enter Australian Open final - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/events-tournaments/australian-open-2011/india-challenges/Paes-Bhupathi-enter-Australian-Open-final/articleshow/7369903.cms#ixzz1CF2v0svG

Djokovic knocks Federer out of Australian Open

MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic once again mastered defending champion Roger Federer to reach the final of the Australian Open on Thursday.

The resurgent Serbian third seed wore down Federer 7-6 (7/3), 7-5, 6-4 in three hours to repeat his semifinal win over the Swiss great in the 2008 Australian Open on the way to winning his lone Grand Slam title.

Djokovic will now play the winner of Friday's semifinal between British fifth seed Andy Murray and Spain's seventh seed David Ferrer in Sunday's title match.

It will be the first Grand Slam without Rafael Nadal or Federer since the 2008 Australian final.

With world number one Nadal out of the tournament amid doubts over his fitness and now Federer beaten, Djokovic's triumph may have signalled a changing of the guard at the top of men's tennis.

"He puts a lot of pressure on you, so I tried to stay to the last moment and really it was one of the best matches I've played in a while," Djokovic said.

"I had to take my chances, in the second set I was a break up and in 20 minutes I was 5-2 down, so if I had lost that set God knows which direction the match would go.

"But I am just happy to overcome the tough moments to play my best tennis."

It was Djokovic's third win over Federer in a Grand Slam semifinal, and he now leads the Swiss great 3-2 in their encounters at the majors.

The world number three repeated his classic straight-sets win over Federer in the semifinals in Melbourne three years ago, when he went on to beat Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final for his maiden Grand Slam title.

He also defeated Federer in the semifinals of last year's US Open after saving two match points. Federer still leads 13-7 in their overall meetings.

Federer was playing in his eighth straight Australian semi-final and his 27th Slam semifinal.

Djokovic continued his terrific form at the tournament and has dropped just one set leading into Sunday's final.

Djokovic opened shakily with two double faults before holding, as Federer looked looked stronger on serve as the first set went into a tiebreaker.

But Federer played a poor tiebreak with a couple of backhand misses and Djokovic took the set on the first of his four set points in 57 minutes.

The Serb was fired up by his early advantage and broke Federer in the third game of the second set when a Federer backhand was long.

That stung the world number two and he claimed a double service break to go up 5-2, but Djokovic hit back winning the next five games to go two sets up after Federer began missing his forehand.

Djokovic fought for 13 minutes and five deuces to cling to his service at the start of the third set as Federer desperately looked for a way back into the contest.

Federer became more flustered under the continual assault from Djokovic and was broken in the third game to give the third seed control of the deciding set, as he wore down the Swiss champion.

Fighting Federer broke back to 4-4, but the Swiss again gave up serve with more volley errors to leave Djokovic to serve out for the match on his third match point.

Read more: Djokovic knocks Federer out of Australian Open - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/events-tournaments/australian-open-2011/top-stories/Djokovic-knocks-Federer-out-of-Australian-Open/articleshow/7372750.cms#ixzz1CF2hm99Z