‘He thought large’: Jatin Paranjape credits Lalit Modi for making Team India a global brand | Cricket News – The Times of India

Lalit Modi and Jatin Paranjape

Former India cricketer and selector Jatin Paranjape has provided a uncommon glimpse into the dramatic transformation of Indian cricket’s global picture and the private journeys behind it. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Speaking on The Bombay Sport Exchange, Paranjape traced the journey from BCCI’s first attire sponsorship to Lalit Modi’s audacious imaginative and prescient of making Team India a worldwide brand, whereas additionally reflecting on his father Vasu Paranjape’s teaching legacy and the complexities of rising up in a well-known cricketing family.Lalit Modi and the “big brand” imaginative and prescientParanjape, who labored carefully with Nike throughout its affiliation with the BCCI, recalled the revolutionary second when cricket attire grew to become extra than simply uniforms.“A lot of credit needs to go to Lalit Modi,” he mentioned. “He was the guy who thought big and wanted a big brand from an apparel perspective. There was even a clause in the contract about having retail outlets internationally to stock BCCI merchandise. He really saw the Indian team as a global brand — and now we’re living that reality.”Nike, Paranjape defined, needed to adapt to cricket’s distinctive wants. “They had to learn about cricket shirts and trousers, and how to fit those into the Nike ethos of lightweight, zero-distraction performance wear,” he mentioned. Small however significant improvements adopted, from trousers with buttons for straightforward adjustments to personalised touches for Sachin Tendulkar. “He had a Sai Baba pendant, so only his shirt had a V-cut so it wouldn’t show when batting,” Paranjape recalled.While the gear mattered, he harassed that the “real meat of the deal” was licensing and merchandising. Replica shirts and branded attire helped India’s cricket staff make the leap into changing into a marketable, global id.Vasudeo Paranjape’s “school of belief”Switching from boardrooms to maidans, Jatin mirrored on the affect of his father, Vasudeo Paranjape — a former cricketer, coach, and mentor to generations of Mumbai gamers.“My father was very big on having belief in his players. He trusted them,” he mentioned. Unlike the strict, silent dressing rooms of the previous, Vasu fostered an environment of empathy and freedom. “Players had a voice. They played hard, they played fair, and they always went for the win,” Jatin remembered.He narrated anecdotes that exposed his father’s fearless type, together with a well-known declaration in opposition to a sturdy Mumbai University aspect led by Sandeep Patil. Despite being brief on bowlers, Vasudeo’s daring name turned the match in Dadar Union’s favour. “He was willing to gamble, but always for the team’s brand of cricket,” Jatin mentioned.Even in private adversity, Vasu embodied resilience. “Once he got hit in the mouth, spat out two teeth, waved everyone away, and hit a six next ball,” Jatin recalled. “That was the style — calling a spade a spade and doing the hard, right thing.”The burden of a well-known titleBeing the son of such a towering persona wasn’t all the time straightforward. Jatin admitted it was “a no-win situation.”“You’re always going to be compared. Not just as a cricketer, but as a person,” he mentioned. “My father was known more for his coaching and leadership than his playing. That comparison was tougher, but you have to find your own path.”Supportive friends in a younger Bombay staff, he mentioned, helped him shrug off the burden of expectations.