How there would be no 'nothing official about it' (or IPL) without Jagmohan Dalmiya
It is quite likely that cricket lovers born in the 2000s will look back at the 1996 World Cup and wonder: “What was all the fuss about?” Except for Sri Lanka’s unexpected domination and eventual triumph, a glance at the tournament records hardly points out anything earth-shattering - a series of one-sided group games, leading up to a frenzied knockout stage.
In its own way though, the 1996 World Cup heralded the advent of commercialism in Indian cricket. For every Karbon Kamaal catch or CITI Moment of Success you see during the IPL, it all harked back to 1996 – the Wills World Cup.
It might not even have been held in the subcontinent. England were complacent in the belief that they would be awarded the tournament, before the PILCOM (a joint Pakistan-India-Lanka organising committee of which Jagmohan Dalmiya was the convener) offered the Associate countries more money for their votes, thus enlisting their support. It was widely believed that it was Dalmiya’s brains that were behind the coup of sorts.
The numbers behind the event were unheard of at that time. The TV rights were sold at a staggering $14 million, with the UK rights only fetching £7.5 million. A heady post-liberalisation India was seeing the transformation of cricket from a sport to a money-making business. The amount spent by sponsors was staggering – Wills paid $12 million to become the official title sponsor. There was an official chewing-gum (Center Fresh) while Coca-Cola saw the event as an opportunity to grab the market in India and paid $3.8 million to be the official soft drink.
The tournament saw unprecedented levels of advertising. Coca-Cola’s commercial showcasing cricket in different parts of India was an effort at giving Coke the Indian touch. In response, Pepsi launched its own advertising campaign, launching a series of adverts featuring popular cricketers with the tagline “Nothing Official About It”. It became an iconic catchphrase of sorts.
The game itself changed after 1996 as the world woke up to the riches on offer. Under Dalmiya’s presidency, the International Cricket Council slowly started walking the path of maximum profit maximisation of the game. Almost twenty years later, as players get paid multi-million dollar salaries for a few weeks of work in the many franchise-based tournaments over the globe, they must say a silent prayer to Jagmohan Dalmiya.
