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Former Shark Tank India judge and BharatPe founder Ashneer Grover recently shared an interesting anecdote during a podcast, recalling how he rejected former Team India captain Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma as brand ambassadors.
Speaking on the Vagehra Vagehra podcast, Grover revealed that he wasn’t keen on the couple shoot as it wasn’t a shoot for lehenga. Grover further said he was discussing an IPL deal with some brokers and suggested that because every inch of the players’ jerseys is plastered with ads, he would like to place his company’s logo on their backsides.
“Maine bola chalo, Virat Kohli ko le lete hain, aur usne ek amount boli. Abhi bolunga nahi, Virat Kohli bura maan jayega. Phir bola ke Anushka ko bhi saath mein le lo. Maine bola maine kaunse Manyavar ke lehenge pehnane hain aur sherwani bechni hai, woh Manyavar waalon ne kar liya hai,” said the Indian bussinessman.
“Maine bola koi aur player bata, woh bolta hai ke uske baad kisi ki aukaat hi nahi hai. Maine kaha ek kaam kar, jitne ka tu mujhe Kohli bech raha tha na, usko divide by two kar, aur iss number pe mujhe baaki 11 player laa de. Aur maine wohi deal kari phir, 11 player liye, Kohli divided by two ke number pe.
(Kohli asked for an amount, which I won’t reveal here; he’ll take offence. They also offered me Anushka as a package deal, and I said I don’t want to repeat what Manyavar had already done. So, I asked if they could get me 11 other players for half of what Kohli was demanding. And that’s the deal I finally struck).”
Grover shared the story with Kohli
In the podcast, Grover mentioned that he doesn’t have a photograph with any cricketer except Kohli. After meeting the man himself, Grover told Kohli why he rejected him and hired 11 other players.
“Mere paas ek bhi player ke saath photo nahi hai, main shoot pe nahi gaya. Ek hi photo hai, Kohli ke saath baat karte hue recently. Aur jo Kohli ke saath baat kar raha tha na, main usse yehi kissa suna raha tha, ke kaise aapko bechne aaye they, aur maine baake 11 player le liye aapko nahi liya. Kohli bola, ‘It’s very good business’.
(I don’t have a single photo with any of them; I didn’t go for the shoots even. I just have one photo of me talking to Kohli recently. And I was telling him about this story. He said it was very good business).”
Meanwhile, Kohli is set to return to action with the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka. He smashed a brilliant century in his last 50-over game against Bangladesh in Chattogram.
