Worldwide Pandeymonium

Piyush Pandey’s elevation as global chief creative officer of Ogilvy—a first for an Indian—underlines how the celebrated adman transformed the iconic ad agency from multinational to multicultural.

- Rajiv Singh

The match is poised for a nail-biting finish. Australia's last wicket pair of Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood have brought the Aussies tantalisingly close to an improbable victory in the first Test against India at Adelaide. Back in Mumbai Piyush Pandey, who once captained the Rajasthan under-22 cricket team in the CK Nayudu Trophy, is glued to his television set at his plush Krishna Kunj apartment in Mahim. His airy balcony, overlooking the Arabian Sea, is shut, blocking the noise of uproarious waves.

The only sound in Pandey’s living room emanates from his television set. An Aussie victory would end the country’s losing streak of five Test matches. A win for India would script history of a different kind: Its first Test victory in Australia since 2008.

With Australia just 32 runs away from victory and the contest getting intense with every passing minute, Pandey appears tense on a chilly December morning. He lights a cigarette, the smoke adding to the palpable tension in the room. Keeping him company in a corner of an adjacent room is an old cricket bat branded ‘Four Square’. Six colourful hats, like prized trophies, are neatly placed in two vertical rows on the right wall as one enters his flat. A huge portrait of Pandey’s mother, along with a small, multiheaded idol of Lord Ganesha, is on the other side of the room. On one of the walls hangs a row of antique wall clocks, each showing different international time zones.

Meanwhile in Adelaide, Hazlewood edges a low catch to second slip. India win. Pandey exults. “They (Indian team) fought like maniacs,” says the former Ranji player for Rajasthan. “I had predicted a 68-run victory and was tense in the last 45 minutes,” says Pandey, 63, with a wide grin that stretches his bushy Walrus moustache across his wide jaw.