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.The left-hander landed two lucrative deals in the last three days, which seemed a far cry from the scene six months back, when even electronic giants — the sponsor of his cricket academy here — looked like giving out discordant signals about the extent of their financial commitment.Ganguly’s visibility in television advertisements during the 10 months he was out of the Indian team had virtually been limited to endorsing Pogo.Later on, a commercial for a soft drink giant 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, the 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 at Salt Lake township.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.On Saturday, Ganguly was roped in as brand ambassador by the Germany-based sports lifestyle brand Puma and its country arm Puma Sports India.Yesterday, 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.
