Hostility with India continues, and as a result Bangladeshi cricketers are facing serious trouble. Players like Liton Das are suffering significant financial losses. Just a few days ago, renowned bat manufacturer SG had terminated its contracts with Bangladeshi cricketers. Now, reports suggest that another company, Sareen Sports Industries, has also ended its agreements with Bangladeshi players.
Ever since Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur Rahman was released from KKR following a directive from the BCCI, cricketing relations between India and Bangladesh have sharply deteriorated. Bangladesh is reluctant to travel to India for the T20 World Cup, leading to an exchange of letters between the Bangladesh Cricket Board and the ICC. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s interim government has stopped the broadcast of the IPL in the country.
Amid this situation, it has been reported that SG has decided to cancel all sponsorship deals with Bangladeshi cricketers. Many Bangladeshi batters had used SG bats, the biggest name among them being Liton Das, who is set to lead Bangladesh in the upcoming World Cup. Sources claim that SG has terminated all kit sponsorship agreements with Bangladeshi players and has shown no interest in renewing those contracts.
It is also learnt that many SG bats were earlier manufactured in factories in Bangladesh, from where they were sent to India and distributed across the world. However, under the current circumstances, that production has also been adversely affected.
Even before SG, another Indian company Sareen Sports Industries had cut ties with Bangladeshi cricketers. Based in Uttar Pradesh, the company manufactures a range of equipment including bats, balls, helmets and gloves. Prominent cricketers such as Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, Kumar Sangakkara and MS Dhoni have used equipment made by this company. Sareen Sports had also sponsored four to five top-level Bangladeshi cricketers.
However, following the fall of the Hasina government last year, relations between India and Bangladesh worsened, and it was around that time that Sareen Sports brought its contracts with Bangladeshi players to an end.
