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NEWS Cricket World Cup 2007>Ganguly again the darling of corporate world 28th Feb 2007 12.01 IST By Agencies Only months back, almost nobody expected Sourav Ganguly to make the fairy-tale comeback to big time cricket as he did, least of all the corporates. But now, with Ganguly having returned to the Indian team with a bang and the World Cup a fortnight away, corporate India is going ga ga over the former national skipper.
Ganguly's visibility in television ads during the 10 months he was out of the Indian team had virtually been limited to endorsing POGO. Later on, a commercial for soft drink giant Pepsi seemed to be built around the former skipper's fallen status. The image of a forlorn Ganguly, hoping people had not forgotten him, and expressing his resolve to come back into the Indian team, almost seemed the stuff of some soap opera. However, with the talismanic player's willow again doing the talking ever since his return to national duty on South African soil at Potchefstroom, relationship between the electronics giant and the academy has become as smooth as silk. "There is no misunderstanding between us now. We are very happy with the company's role," said a spokesman of the academy situated at the posh satellite township Salt Lake. For Ganguly's agent Percept d' Mark, it's a windfall of sorts. "Surely, we are very satisfied with the new endorsements we have got for him. But honestly speaking, even when he was out of the team, we were convinced that he will be back. The question was when," Vineeta Bangar, vice president of Percept's strategic business arm Celebrity Management Services, said on Tuesday. On Saturday, Ganguly was roped in as brand ambassador by the Germany-based sports lifestyle brand Puma and its country arm Puma Sports India. On Monday, it was the turn of the Kolkata-based IT hardware company Chirag Computers to name Dada their brand ambassador. Both the deals are for a year. "Let's see how things go. Then they may be reviewed," said Ganguly, who is also associated with Hero Honda, Lupin Pharma, Sahara, Pepsi, Hero Honda and Tata Teleservices. Bangar said negotiations were also on with a bank and a couple of other corporate houses. "But now, he'll be leaving for the West Indies. So, we can finalise the fresh deals only after the World Cup," she said. In fact, Ganguly's fightback to the national team from what was perceived as a hopeless situation is now earning him kudos from the corporates. "The Bengal Tiger (Ganguly) embodies the perfect combination of grit, skill, endurance and style, which is truly synonymous with the brand image of our company." "He kept going even in his hard days and now has successfully made his place in the World Cup," said Managing Director of Puma Sports India Rajiv Mehta. But after his experience over the past year, when he had been losing endorsements, Ganguly now has no second thoughts about his priorities. "Frankly speaking, if runs keep coming, the rest will follow," he said. Bangar, however, claimed that none of the corporates deserted Ganguly for his status then. "LG and Emami did move away, but that was more to do with their business decision to look away from cricketers," she said. "And in these cases also, there was no pre-termination of contract. The deals had completed their full run," she said. Also View In-Depth Coverage: Cricket World Cup 2007 Team Page: India Team Page: West Indies | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
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