Brand Bumrah firing on all cylinders

When Jasprit Bumrah outfoxed Mohammad Rizwan and Shadab Khan in close succession, he stirred up a frenzy last week at Ahmedabad; getting a 1,00,000 plus Indians screaming in joy at the stadium and many millions more sharing the madness in the comfort of their homes.

- Rasesh Mandani

India's pace spearhead, arguably the best in the world too, had given ample evidence over the past two months that he had not lost the lethal edge in the year away from the game. The showing against Pakistan was just the kind of virtuoso effort that warmed hearts of fans and comforted his commercial partners too. Now, the market wants a ride on the Bumrah speed train.

Ever since Sachin Tendulkar laid down the marker in the 1990s, batters in India have been classified as the more marketable players. Batting tons counted for far more than 5-fers. Earlier, there was Kapil Dev - star acts were not rewarded handsomely then but even his brand was shaped more by leading a team of no-hopers to world glory in early career than his bowling prowess.

There were a few Indian fast bowlers; left-armer Zaheer Khan for longevity and S Sreesanth for his eccentric streak who held some endorsement equity. But for different reasons, World Cup winners both; their valuation never soared.

However, Bumrah -- all of 5'9", fast bowler, toe-crusher, stumprattler is promising to gatecrash this batters-only endorsement club. Bumrah endorsed 11 brands before the injury layoff and has added 3 more to his kitty. Known to charge in the range of Rs 2 crore per day, his Instagram following (11 million) is next only to Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul in the current Indian World Cup squad.