Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar’s newly launched sports celebrity management venture, a subsidiary of his Professional Management Group, has signed up India opener Virender Sehwag in a five-year deal that is understood to be worth over Rs 100 crore in the first three years.

“I am very happy to be represented by PMG. I am confident they will handle my brand endorsements very well,” said Sehwag at a news conference to announce the deal on Sunday.

Sehwag said he was currently endorsing seven or eight brands and was certain PMG would help him in his branding while he also would help the company as much as possible.

“I am very excited to have signed the deal with PMG. I am also elated that I would be working with my childhood hero Sunil Gavaskar. And I’m sure we are going to have a great partnership working together,” he said about the partnership.

Veteran adman and PMG Director Sam Balsara said that celebrity endorsements in India amounted to roughly Rs 4000 crore per annum out of which the major share was between Bollywood and cricket.

“The total ad market is roughly 20,000 to 21,000 crore and celebrity endorsements, that mainly comprises Bollywood and cricket, forms 20 per cent of it, either in 50:50 or 60:40 ratio,” Balsara said.

“I am confident that there will be many brands who will want to associate with Viru,” he added.

Team India vice-captain Yuvraj Singh has thrown his weight behind Virender Sehwag and supported his views on the selection process of the More Pictures Delhi team.

A day after meeting DDCA president Arun Jaitley, Sehwag on Wednesday said that there are discrepancies in the selection process at the lower level and hoped that his suggestions to the Delhi administrators would be implemented soon.

“If you look at Indian team, I don’t think there is any need to give any suggestions because it’s the merit that matters. Whoever performs gets picked. There is never an instance where somebody has not performed and got picked,” Sehwag said on the sidelines of a Birla Sun Life programme.

“It (unfair selections) happens at lower levels and I have given some suggestions to DDCA and I hope that my suggestions would be implemented soon and the results would be seen in near future,” he added.

The Delhi opener had spearheaded a revolt against DDCA, accusing its sports committee of indulging in nepotism and corruption and his stand has been supported by senior players like Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra.

Yuvraj also threw his weight behind Sehwag and supported his views on the selection process.

“Sehwag has raised a voice and everybody is with him and we have the highest hope. There were instances where I performed but was not picked. Such unfair practices hurt the careers of young cricketers and shatter their dreams.

“So I think the selection should be done keeping every player’s performance in contention,” he said.

Recovering from right shoulder injury, Sehwag said he would start playing again from the first week of September.

“I’m feeling a little better. I had been hitting only 10-15 balls and haven’t tried cut and pull shots as it hurts,” Sehwag said.

Meanwhile, on senior batsman Rahul Dravid’s return to the One-day squad after a gap of nearly two years, Yuvraj said it would lend experience to the side and also help younger players in the team.

Out of reckoning Rohit Sharma, who is one of the brand ambassador of Birla Sunlife, said he was looking forward to the domestic season to improve his game and strive to get back into the national side.

Rohit also dismissed suggestions that he is uncomfortable playing short-pitch deliveries.

“I have been playing well those short balls in IPL and Twenty20 World Cup. It is just that sometimes mistakes do happen,” he said.

“Pull shot is my favourite and I would continue to play it,” he added.

The crucial meeting between Virender Sehwag, who has triggered a virtual players’ revolt against Delhi adminstrators, and DDCA president Arun Jaitley will be held on Tuesday to try and resolve the issues raised by the senior cricketers.

Sehwag has threatened to quit the Delhi Ranji team in protest against alleged nepotism and corruption in the DDCA’s sports committee but has been told to keep his decision on hold till the meeting with Jaitley.

The star Indian opener has received support from his senior Delhi teammates like Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra, who have also threatened to play for some other state in the upcoming domestic season if their grievances were not addressed. Former Delhi players have also backed the revolting cricketers.

Since both Sehwag and Jaitley were out of town, the meeting could not be scheduled earlier.

According to Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) sources, Jaitley will also talk to the top office bearers before meeting Sehwag on Tuesday.

Sources said the DDCA office-bearers were supposed to meet today to discuss the players’ resentment but will now meet early next week because of Jaitley’s busy schedule.

Reshuffle of the selection committee tops the agenda with the possibility of two selectors being sacked from the panel.

The agenda also includes offering BCCI-style contracts to players to provide them a sense of security.

Faced with a players’ revolt, the Delhi Ranji team saw its nine players miss the conditioning camp on the second successive day. 

Ashish Nehra, who attended the camp on day one, was not seen on Thursday along with Aditya Jain and Sunny Sherawat.

On Wednesday, the Delhi Ranji team started its preparatory camp for the upcoming domestic season without seven players but officials insisted that unrest against the DDCA was not the reason for their absence.

After Virender Sehwag’s outburst against “nepotism and corruption” in the Delhi District and Cricket association (DDCA), seven players including pacer Ishant Sharma and opener Gautam Gambhir skipped the opening day of the camp.

However, DDCA Vice-President and Selection Committee chairman Chetan Chauhan insisted that the players were absent because of other engagements.

Apart from Sehwag, Ishant, Gambhir and Nehra, others missing from the camp were Rajat Bhatia, Mithun Manhas and Chaitanya Anand.

Sehwag, who has threatened to quit the Delhi team for Haryana, is likely to meet DDCA President Arun Jaitley on August 26 or 27 and officials said a resolution would be worked out.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni continued to top the One-day batsmen chart with his deputy Yuvraj Singh occupying the second position in the latest ICC ODI Player Rankings released on Wednesday.

Apart from Dhoni and Yuvraj, Delhi dasher Virender Sehwag, at the seventh spot, is the other Indian to feature in the top 10 batsmen list.

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir are at the 14th and 17th spot respectively in the chart.

However, no Indian features among top 10 ODI bowlers with left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan languishing at the 17th spot in the list which is being headed by Sri Lankan Nuwan Kulasekara, followed by Kyle Mills and Daniel Vettori of New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan continued to top the ODI all-rounders table, followed by England’s Andrew Flintoff in the second spot and Kiwi Jacob Oram at the third position.

India also managed to hold on to their second best ODI team status with 126 rating points.

South Africa tops the table with a point lead over India, while World Champions Australia is lying third with 119 points.

Virender Sehwag’s allegations of corruption in Delhi and District Cricket Association triggered a virtual revolt against the administration on Wednesday with seven players refusing to attend the DDCA conditioning camp.

Players who missed the camp today include Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, Rajat Bhatiya, Mithun Manhas and Chaitaniya Nanda.

Yesterday, Indian opener Gautam Gambhir and pacer Ishant Sharma joined Sehwag against the corruption in DDCA and showed their willingness to join other Ranji teams.

Virender Sehwag’s allegations of nepotism and corruption in DDCA today triggered a virtual revolt against the administration with more senior players like Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma threatening to quit the Delhi Ranji team.

Even as rattled DDCA officials sought to play down the brewing unrest among the players, Sehwag claimed that more players would support him on the issue, raising the possibility of a showdown just weeks before the Ranji season.

“More will come out,” said Sehwag, who is currently in Bangalore undergoing rehabilitation for his injured shoulder.

The players are unhappy with the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) sports committee which, they claimed, interfered in selection matters and also indulged in corruption.

DDCA Sports Secretary Sunil Dev has refuted the allegations and said he was prepared to talk to the players and resolve the differences.

Apart from Gambhir and Sharma, left-arm paceman Ashish Nehra was another senior player who has Sehwag’s campaign against the sports committee.

A concerned DDCA President Arun Jaitley has told his officials not to precipitate the crisis and let things “cool down”.

Sehwag is likely meet Jaitley on August 27 or 28. The explosive right-hander has threatened to leave the team for Haryana, saying that he is frustrated with the interference in selection matters.

Gambhir and Nehra made it clear that even they would “not hesitate” to move out to other associations if things did not improve and transparency in the selection process was not brought in.

Gambhir also felt the DDCA sports committee, which did not have a single cricketer on its panel, needed to be changed as it put pressure on captains and stand-in captains to play their candidates.

Ishant voiced his support for Sehwag, saying “he is absolutely right about selection matters”.

Interestingly, the revolt comes just days before the crucial sports committee elections and some of the DDCA officials are interpreting the move as a “pressure tactic” by the players.

The players have voiced their dissent only through the media and none of them have communicated their grievances in writing to the DDCA.

The DDCA Vice-President and Chairman of the Selection committee Chetan Chauhan conceded that there were certain problems of nepotism which needed to be addressed.

“Delhi has a lot of influential people, who do put some pressure on the selectors to choose their wards. There are problems which need to be sorted out, but I am sure everything will be resolved. We do not want to lose top class players like Sehwag and others,” he said.

Sources said DDCA office bearers will meet on August 22 to discuss the issue.

Sehwag also got support from former India cricketer and Delhi coach Madan Lal, who was critical of the functioning of the Sports Committee.

“I do not know how the Sports Committee is so powerful and why there are so many complaints. The matter has to be looked into,” he said.

Meanwhile, the BCCI sought to distance itself from the developments, saying it was an internal matter between the players and their association.

“It is an internal matter between DDCA and the players. The DDCA is capable of resolving the issue,” BCCI spokesman Rajiv Shukla said.

Indian opener Virender Sehwag has threatened to quit the Delhi Ranji team, alleging interference in selection matters by the DDCA Sports Committee members.

Sehwag was unhappy with the rampant corruption in the DDCA and in the selection process of the Delhi team.

“I am trying to leave Delhi and play for Haryana. I spoke to the Delhi District and Cricket Association (DDCA) president, Mr. Arun Jaitley, and he has asked me to discuss the issue with him and then take a decision. If I am not satisfied with the outcome of our meeting, I will surely leave Delhi,” Sehwag was quoted in a private news channel.

“There is too much interference and manipulation from the sports committee in selection committees. The sports committee has got too much power. There is more interference at the under-16 and under-19 levels than the Ranji Trophy. In a squad of 15, for instance, the sports committee tries to influence the selectors and slip in one or two of ‘their own’ boys,” added the hard-hitting batsman.

Sehwag has already applied for a No-Objection Certificate to move to another state team and will meet with DDCA (Delhi and District Cricket Association) president Arun Jaitely soon.

“So, if I am not satisfied with the result of the meeting with Mr Jaitley, I will leave whether or not DDCA gives me the no objection certificate (NOC). There is a rule that if a player’s parent association harasses a player and doesn’t give him the NOC, the Board of Control for Cricket in India can do so,” Sehwag told the news channel.

The DDCA’s Sports Secretary Sunil Dev said he has not received any communication from Sehwag nor has he approached him for a No Objection Certificate to play for some other state.

But a top DDCA source said Sehwag’s threat to quit was just a “pressure tactic” to bring in a couple of his players in the Ranji squad.

“He wants to bring Mayank Tehlan and Pradeep Sangwan into the team. But since the Delhi team is well set, it is not possible. That is the reason why he is making such threats,” the source said.

Sehwag has claimed that some selectors group together to force a player of their choice into the side, leaving the captain and selection committee chairman powerless.

He has also alleged manipulation in the selection of Delhi under-16 and under-19 teams.

The Delhi team, which won the 2007-08 Ranji title, failed to even make the knock-out stage last season. Sehwag did not play a single match last season because of his engagements with the national team.

Dev said it was unfair for Sehwag to use words like “corruption” against the DDCA and said the allegations were totally baseless.

“What have we not done for Sehwag ? We have always looked after his needs when he was the Delhi captain. Let him come back, we will know what he has in mind”, Dev said.

Dev was also livid against Sehwag for raising the issue of selection in junior teams.

“Why is he talking about junior cricket ? I will be happy if he comes and helps in the development of junior cricket after his retirement from international cricket”, he said.

However, Haryana Cricket Association (HCA) confirmed that they had offered a place to Sehwag in the last Ranji season.

Now, after Sehwag’s announcement, the HCA has welcomed the right-handed batsman to play for their state.

Virender Sehwag, recovering from a shoulder injury that ruled him out of the World Twenty20 early this month, reported at the NCA in Bangalore on Monday afternoon as part of his rehabilitation process.

The opener spent time with NCA physiotherapist Paul Close who assessed his recovery. Sehwag has been advised by the NCA to return to Bangalore once again in three weeks.

Sehwag underwent surgery on his right shoulder on June 11 and has been out of action. He is expected to remain away from cricket for another 12 to 16 weeks which means the batsman is most likely to miss the Lankan tri-series in September and the ICC Champions Trophy.

Indian batsman Virender Sehwag has undergone shoulder surgery and could be sidelined for at least three months, domestic media reported on Friday.

The explosive 30-year-old opener, who was sidelined for the Twenty20 World Cup, went under the knife in London last week for a shoulder tear and had begun rehabilitation, a newspaper reported.

Sehwag was injured during the Indian Premier League (IPL) in South Africa prior to the Twenty20 event and may struggle to regain fitness ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy starting from September 24.