Nike had only Sreesanth as a cricket athlete: Here's how Virat Kohli signed a contract with the popular brand

India skipper Virat Kohli is currently the richest sportsperson in the country. His career, with the passage of time, has reached new heights. Kohli, in 2020, was also the only Indian in the list of Forbes’ top-100 highest-paid athletes across the globe.

Since breaking into the national side, there has been no looking back for the Delhi lad. Be it his batting expeditions or brand value and endorsements– Kohli is the forerunner in both the departments. Kohli now displays the famous MRF logo on his bat which has made appearances on the willows of Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and AB de Villiers.

Before the MRF logo, Kohli sported the Nike logo on his willow for many years until he was sued by the brand for a breach of contract. Former Nike Sports Marketing Head Jatin Paranjpe recently revealed how the brand got a young Kohli on board.

Virat Kohli had steered India to victory in 2008 U19 World Cup

Paranjape, during an interaction with Gaurav Kapur, recalled how he offered Kohli the deal in the 2007/08 season ahead of the U19 skipper’s 2008 World Cup win. Kohli had hogged much limelight by steering India to the U19 World Cup triumph. Paranjape also revealed that the brand only had Sreesanth on board during that time, which was a scary scenario for any brand in the market.

“Nike had only Sreesanth as a cricket athlete and at that time, there wasn’t the thought for a Nike bat. It was just footwear, shoes, etc. And we had a roster that had only S Sreesanth written on it. That is an extremely dangerous situation to be in and that scared the daylights out of me,” said Paranjape on an episode of 22 Yarns.

Paranjape, through his coaches network, spotted Kohli in an India U19 camp ahead of the 2008 U19 World Cup. Paranjape, after watching Kohli’s hunger and confidence, signed him up along with his teammate Tanmay Srivastava.

“Through my coaches network, I started going to watch a lot of matches, and Virat Kohli was one of them in an India U-19 camp ahead of the 2008 U-19 World Cup. I saw that he had something in his eyes – a hunger, confidence. Virat Kohli was my very first signing, and the next day, I signed Tanmay Srivastav,” added Paranjape.

Here’s the video: