Tag: Ajinkya Rahane

Star Plus salutes Moms through Dhoni, Kohli and Ajinkya in promos

MUMBAI: Moms are what make each one of us who we are. That’s something we all acknowledge in private, and sometimes in public. The Twenty First Century Corop subsidiary Star India has roped in India’s cricket superstars MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane for a TV campaign for Star Plus in which the trio has dropped their surnames or their own names from their jerseys, replacing it with their respective mom’s names.

The campaign (part of the Nayi Soch initiative) – sure to warm the cockles of many an Indian heart and possibly bring a lump to our throats – rolled out on TV screens just as the one day series between India and the Kiwis commenced.

The intent: Star India says is to push forward the agenda for Indian women, something which it has been doing through its entertainment TV shows and promos. A press release issued by Star India says that the three promos are supported by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and that it (as the Indian cricket team’s sponsor) along with the cricket board is seeking to break the stereotypical societal notions around lineage and identity and the role of women in all our lives.

In the promos, Dhoni, Virat and Ajinkya proudly acknowledge that they derive their identity as much from their mothers as their fathers.

“We at Star India are very happy to partner with the BCCI for an iconic brand initiative of Nayi Soch. Star Plus has been a lighthouse brand for women,” says Star India managing director Sanjay Gupta. “We have always put women first, told their stories and are now set to take it to the next level by challenging orthodoxy and stereotypes that come in the way of progress for women.”

In the MS Dhoni short film, a journalist questions him about the fact that he has put the name of Devki on his jersey. Dhoni responds with the usual calmness and smile on his face:
“Main itne saal se, apne pita aka naam pahen raha tha, tab to aap ne kabhi nahin poocha, ki koi khaas vajaah.”
(“For so many years, I wore my father’s name on my jersey, you never asked me if there is a special occasion.”)

Ajinkya Rahane, in his film, says
“Log kahante hain, baap ka naam roshan karo, lekin mere liye ma (Sujata) ka naam roshan karna itna hi important hain.”
(People say make your father proud and renowned, but for me making my mother proud and well known is as important)

The Virat Kohli film has him saying:
“Aaj mein jo bhi hoon, Mummy ke vajaah se bhi hoon. To zaher si baat hain meri pehachaan bhi, sirf papa ke naam se kyon? Mein jitna Kohli hoon, utna Saroj bhi hoon.”
(Whatever I am today is because of my Mummy. Then the question is why I am known only by my father. I am as much a Saroj as I am a Kohli)

October 16, 2016
Marriott India partners Rising Pune Supergiants for IPL Season 2016

MUMBAI: The digital campaign #MarriottForRPSG, conceptualized in partnership with MindShift Interactive amplifies the Rising Pune Supergiants and Marriott India association for IPL 2016.

With the #MarriottForRPSG campaign, the agency wanted to highlight the association of Marriott India as the official hospitality partner of Rising Pune Supergiants. The campaign began with over 40 Marriott India properties – Marriott, JW Marriott, Courtyard by Marriott, Fairfield Inn by Marriott and Renaissance. They came together for a holistic campaign to cheer for the first season of the Rising Pune Supergiants. The month long campaign focused on the common ground between cricket and Marriott – passion. Building on that idea, the campaign started off with profiling the team members – MS Dhoni, Steven Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, Kevin Peterson, Faf Du Plessis amongst others whilst highlighting JW Marriott Pune being the official hosts to the team throughout the series.

An flash mob conducted by the JW Marriott Pune staff was created and captured through a video that received high outreach digital platforms. Keeping the insight behind video content being a key to leveraging engagements, a fair share of videos were created around the associates of Marriott and the teams. A cricket playoff between key players from RPS and students from the Mahindra Pride School, a cause dear to Marriott India was conducted capturing the true essence of two worlds colliding, shared through all the Marriott properties across India. The entire campaign was aptly led by content focusing on the cricket fever through the hashtag #CricketOnMyMind, in the form of rich media such as GIFs and videos presenting the subtle ways cricket is seen .

The month long campaign had an overall outreach of 60,00,000 organically, owing an outreach of over 5,00,000 on Facebook and more than 55,00,000 on Twitter. Instagram was leveraged as a secondary platform for properties that were present too.

MindShift Interactive CEO Zafar Rais commented, “This was an exciting opportunity for MindShift to partner with not just a few Marriott India properties but with each and every one of them to leverage their association with Rising Pune Super Giants, making it the first of its kind. Leveraging the association on social media was the apt route to take given the level of engagement IPL receives digitally.”

May 24, 2016
Marriott India partners Rising Pune Supergiants for IPL Season 2016

MUMBAI: The digital campaign #MarriottForRPSG, conceptualized in partnership with MindShift Interactive amplifies the Rising Pune Supergiants and Marriott India association for IPL 2016.

With the #MarriottForRPSG campaign, the agency wanted to highlight the association of Marriott India as the official hospitality partner of Rising Pune Supergiants. The campaign began with over 40 Marriott India properties – Marriott, JW Marriott, Courtyard by Marriott, Fairfield Inn by Marriott and Renaissance. They came together for a holistic campaign to cheer for the first season of the Rising Pune Supergiants. The month long campaign focused on the common ground between cricket and Marriott – passion. Building on that idea, the campaign started off with profiling the team members – MS Dhoni, Steven Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, Kevin Peterson, Faf Du Plessis amongst others whilst highlighting JW Marriott Pune being the official hosts to the team throughout the series.

An flash mob conducted by the JW Marriott Pune staff was created and captured through a video that received high outreach digital platforms. Keeping the insight behind video content being a key to leveraging engagements, a fair share of videos were created around the associates of Marriott and the teams. A cricket playoff between key players from RPS and students from the Mahindra Pride School, a cause dear to Marriott India was conducted capturing the true essence of two worlds colliding, shared through all the Marriott properties across India. The entire campaign was aptly led by content focusing on the cricket fever through the hashtag #CricketOnMyMind, in the form of rich media such as GIFs and videos presenting the subtle ways cricket is seen .

The month long campaign had an overall outreach of 60,00,000 organically, owing an outreach of over 5,00,000 on Facebook and more than 55,00,000 on Twitter. Instagram was leveraged as a secondary platform for properties that were present too.

MindShift Interactive CEO Zafar Rais commented, “This was an exciting opportunity for MindShift to partner with not just a few Marriott India properties but with each and every one of them to leverage their association with Rising Pune Super Giants, making it the first of its kind. Leveraging the association on social media was the apt route to take given the level of engagement IPL receives digitally.”

May 24, 2016
Steven Smith finishes the Ashes as number-one ranked batsman

MUMBAI: Steven Smith has reclaimed the top spot in the latest ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen which were released following the conclusion of The Oval and P.Sara Oval Tests.

The incoming Australia captain started the Ashes series at the top of the rankings on 913 points, but had lost his place to England’s Joe Root after the Trent Bridge Test. However, after scoring 143 in his side’s an innings and 46 runs victory at the The Oval, the 26-year-old has overtaken second-placed AB de Villiers, as well as Root, who has dropped to third following scores of six and 11.

Root had started the series in seventh place on 815 points and has gained 74 points and four places over the course of the series.

There was further good news for David Warner who has moved up two places to ninth after scoring 85, while Chris Rogers concluded his career in 10th place (after climbing 13 places since the start of the series) as the second-highest left-handed batsmen in the rankings behind another illustrious retiree Kumar Sangakkara, who finished his career in seventh spot.

Sangakkara, who scored 32 and 18 in Sri Lanka’s 278 runs defeat at the P.Sara Oval, first reached number-one in the Test batting rankings in December 2007 against England after innings of 92 and 152 in Kandy.

Sangakkara spent a total of 97 Tests and 812 days as the top-ranked Test batsman in the world and was last number-one in December 2014, before losing the top spot to de Villiers. His highest-ever points tally was 938, achieved on 1 December 2007, and that total is the highest-ever achieved by a Sri Lanka batsman to date and the joint sixth-highest of all-time.

Meanwhile, Michael Clarke has finished his 115-Test career in 25th spot. Clarke surged to the top of the rankings in August 2009 and did so for the last time in February 2013. During this period, he topped the batting rankings on several occasions (totaling 11 Tests and 70 days).

Clarke is one of the 30 internationals, including eight Australia batmen, to reach 900 points, which was incidentally his highest points tally that was achieved after the 2012 Boxing Day Test against Sri Lanka.

As an Australia captain, the 34-year-old from Sydney led his team to the top of the ICC Test Team Rankings from May 2011 to July 2014.

The other big movers in the latest batting rankings are India’s Ajinkya Rahane (up two places to a career-high 20th), Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne (up two to 34th) and England’s Moeen Ali (up two to a career-high 48th), while there were also notable career-high gains for Adam Voges (up 21 to 53rd), and India team-mates Lokesh Rahul (up 30 places to 87th) and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha (up 15 places to 100th).

In the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, Australia’s Mitchell Johnson has climbed two places to sixth after recording match figures of four for 86 runs in London, while Ravichandran Ashwin’s match tally of seven for 118 in Colombo has helped the off-spinner overtake Rangana Herath into eighth place on 769 points, one point behind South Africa’s Vernon Philander.

Arising from the conclusion of the fifth Ashes Test, there were gains for Peter Siddle (up three places to 14th) and Nathan Lyon (up two to 16th), while the highest England movers again were Moeen (up four places to 30th) and Ben Stokes (up one place to a career-high 41st). Mitchell Marsh has rocketed 36 places to a career-high 71st place.

Meanwhile, there were career-high gains for Sri Lanka duo of Dhammika Prasad, whose six for 125 runs in Colombo has helped him move up four places to 25th, while his team-mate Tharindu Kaushal has moved up one place to 59th.

The biggest mover in the bowling rankings, though, was India leg-spinner Amit Mishra whose match haul of seven for 72 has helped him move up 42 places to a career-high 39th.

Ashwin has also gained ground on Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan in the ICC Player Rankings for Test All-rounders and has reduced the deficit on the leader to 43 points.

The deciding third and final Test between Sri Lanka and India starts at Colombo on Friday. If India wins the series 2-1, it will overtake New Zealand and move into fifth place. However, a Sri Lanka series victory would see it progress to 96 points and overtake India into sixth place. In the event of a 1-1 tied series, Virat Kohli’s side would remain in sixth place, four points clear of Mathews’ men.

Click here for ICC Test player rankings

August 25, 2015
M S Dhoni to lead team for ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

MUMBAI: The wait is finally over for cricket fans as the list of the Indian squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup has been finalised.

The all-India senior selection committee, which met today, selected the Indian team for the tri-series between India, Australia and England to be played in Australia from 18 January 2015, as well as the final Indian team for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup 2015. It will be played in Australia and New Zealand from February 2015.

The Indian squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will be led by MS Dhoni while Virat Kohli has been appointed as the vice captain. Others in the squad include Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Stuart Binny, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ambati Rayudu, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Md. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma.

On the other hand, the squad for the tri series will see Dhoni taking charge as the captain. Kohli will again come into play as the vice captain. The others who made it to the list are Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Stuart Binny, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ambati Rayudu, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Md. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Dhawal Kulkarni.

January 6, 2015
Rajasthan Royals looks at local handicraft to boost merchandising activities

MUMBAI: At a time when the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises rely on normal things like T-shirts, caps, books for licensing and merchandising Rajasthan Royals have taken a different stance.

It will use Rajasthan handicrafts to create a touch-point with its fan base. It has done a deal with Indiehaat Ventures, an organisation that aims at revitalising and redeeming the Indian handicrafts industry for domestic and global audiences. The partnership seeks to champion the cause of the rich arts, craft and workmanship of the Rajasthani people that the IPL franchise notes remains unexplored and unseen in India.

The franchise adds that its aim has always been to epitomise the elegance, style, valour, and reflected the rich tradition and history of the region. Through the partnership, Indiehaat becomes the team‘s official ‘handmade merchandising partner‘. Rajasthani artisans will be provided with a commercial platform.

In the coming weeks, the team will launch a line called ‘The Royal Collection‘ in handmade and ethnic Rajasthani goods. This will form the core of its new merchandising line for the current season and also for the year ahead. The collection will represent the handiwork of the state‘s artisans in Kantha, embroidery, Kilim as upholstery on furniture, patchwork and Sanganeri prints.

The line will be launched with 25 designs in ethnic Rajasthani furniture and 25 designs in accessories such as bags, cushions, laptop covers, sleeves and stoles. New elements will be added every fortnight.

Rajasthan Royals CEO Raghu Iyer said that the aim to encourage and promote the talent that Rajasthani people have in the area of arts and crafts. “The endeavour is new and different, and we trust it will provide a much-needed platform to local artisans in Rajasthan. It will also add to the exciting inventory of merchandise we offer fans.”

Indiehaat Ventures director and partner Shailendra Singh said, “Indiehaat takes great pride in partnering with a team like Rajasthan Royals. As a cricketing franchisee, the team has always encouraged new talent and supported a number of significant causes in Rajasthan, their home state. We are confident that the venture will be very well received and mark the beginning of a great new interface between artisans and fans.”

The line will be made available on stock and made-to-order basis through www.thechorbazar.com. The websites has started accepting orders. The joint venture also plans to vend through exclusive stores throughout India.

The Rajasthani handicrafts industry currently export goods worth more than $600 million from the state and employs 0.6 million artisans directly or indirectly.

Rajasthan Royals opening batsman Ajinkya Rahane said, “From nurturing school level cricketers to giving talented young players a chance to show case their skills in the league, Rajasthan Royals is a team that is known to support significant causes and provide new opportunities to people. As a player, I feel proud to see us moving into a unique area of business, which will help promote the incredible talent that Rajasthani people have in the area of arts and crafts.”

May 8, 2013