VST, sports and Hyderabad! Well, there is a nostalgic touch when the topic veers around these three subjects which were then integral part of Indian sport itself!
Just consider this. There were no title-sponsors till 1980s for Indian cricket before city-based Vazir Sultan Tobacco Ltd (VST) were to be the pioneers in sponsorship of not just cricket but many other disciplines too and compare this now when top teams vie for the winner’s purse of $4 million in the on-going World Cup in England.
Two gentlemen - Feroze Shah and Siraj Attari - who were the key members of VST’s Marketing and Corporate Communications team along with late ML Jaisimha, Bobjee (Rajendra Prasad), Mohan Das, Charu Sharma among others - go down memory lane recapping those days.
“In 1965 when we started the VST Colts team in Moin-ud-Dowla Gold Cup with a Test cricketer (it was ‘Tiger’ MAK Pataudi for first couple of seasons) leading the team comprising only school boys to promote young talent. This team also saw the likes of Mohinder Amarnath, Sunil Gavaskar, Eknath Solkar, Syed Kirmani make their first class debut (then Moin-ud-Dowla was a first-class tournament) and initially it was led by ‘Tiger’ MAK Pataudi,” recalls Feroze Shah in a chat with The Hindu.
For the record, VST sponsored domestic cricket season from 1964-65 to 73-74 and all bilateral ODI series between 1983-93 featuring 62 matches for Charminar Challenge Trophy. It was also the sponsor of seven consecutive BCCI domestic seasons from 1986-93.
“I remember the days when the Charminar Challenge sponsorship for a one-dayer was ₹ 75,000 for the first time which went up to ₹ 5 lakh per match when we last sponsored in 1983-84,” he says.
“Interestingly, it was very tough to sign a deal with the then top BCCI officials and handle the logistics in those days across India. It was sheer passion by VST top brass which saw it enter all sports including polo, motor racing, horse racing, golf, tennis, even badminton (ABC championship) were sponsored by VST,” he explained. “In a way, VST opened the doors for other corporates to sponsor sports,” says Shah.
Siraj chips in to remind it was he who introduced the idea of a collage of co-sponsors on the boards (backdrop) at the post-match presentations which is even now followed. “ VST was also the first one in India to introduce the concept of ground painting, presenting ‘man of the match’ awards immediately after the match on the ground,” he said.
“That was the phase when cricket was taken to non-cricketing centres like from Rajkot to Guwahati, from Trivandrum to Srinagar,” says Siraj. “We feel proud that VST has become synonymous with sports and Brand Hyderabad,” conclude the two Hyderabadis.