5 successful Indian cricketers who were rarely seen in TV ads

Indian cricketers were not much into TV ads in a big way till the 1980s came along, when the television had reached plenty of new homes and even then, only a handful of cricketers featured in those TV commercials.

However, since the 1990s, TV advertising exploded and almost cricketers, from the absolute stars to those who might have been peripheral members of the side found themselves on TV endorsing one product or the other.

That being said, certain players despite their outstanding performances and confirmed stature have hardly ever been seen in TV commercials. There might be plenty of reasons behind it but it is still interesting to have a look at some of those Indian stars who seemed to have shunned advertising.

#5 Zaheer Khan

The former left-arm fast bowler is arguably one of the greatest bowlers to have played for the country and throughout the course of his glittering career, Zaheer Khan was responsible for the success that the team enjoyed in the new millennium.

However, despite his stardom, Zaheer Khan did not seem to have the same kind of presence on television advertising as some of his contemporaries like Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni or Harbhajan Singh among others.

Needless to say, he had his fair share of advertisements on TV but considering the fact that he was good looking and a star in his own, right, one would have hoped they he would be seen more on TV. That being said, it must have been down to his own discretion.

#4 Gautam Gambhir

The left-handed opening batsman who proved to be one of the pillars of the Test team that rose to the top of the Test rankings under MS Dhoni's captaincy and a hero of the World Cup final was another player who was conspicuously absent during advertising breaks for most of his career.

Gautam Gambhir might have seen at some points with the rest of the Indian team or the IPL teams he represented in a TV commercial or two but he was never a fixture during advertising breaks.

Now Gambhir was nothing short of a star in his own right and advertising executives must have been queueing up for his signature for ad campaigns, but it seems he was a reluctant to do those shoots.

On the other hand, his intense and no-nonsense character might have also been a reason behind his refusal to do many TV ads. We can only speculate about the reason but it is positively bizarre that Gambhir was so rarely seen in TV ads.

#3 Javagal Srinath

Following the retirement of Kapil Dev, who is arguably India's greatest ever fast bowler, the burden of a thin fast bowling attack was shouldered by Javagal Srinath and he did it admirably throughout the course of his remarkable career.

He was among the top fast bowlers in the world and India's spearhead in both formats of the game for more than a decade. However, that did not seem to bring him the sort of TV advertising deals that one would have hoped for and except for one memorable ad for a glucose based drink, there were few ads featuring Srinath on TV.

That being said, it could also be a case of the former fast bowler not being that interested in being featured in TV ads incessantly and might have preferred a quiet life away from the field. After all, he did have his struggles with a persistent shoulder injury that even required a surgery and gave him a lot of trouble in the latter part of his career.

#2 VVS Laxman

The stylish right-hander from Hyderabad is one of the greatest batsmen to have ever played for India and would definitely be part of an all-time Indian test eleven.

In addition to that, VVS Laxman played the greatest Test innings ever by an Indian batsman when he scored 281 in that famous Test match against Australia in 2001 at Eden Gardens.

One would think that he would be all over the television screens selling one product or the other for top dollar but that hardly ever happened and it is difficult for anyone to recall seeing Laxman in an advertisement at any point in his career.

After his retirement, Laxman has gone into coaching in the IPL with the Sunrisers Hyderabad and has proved to be quite successful. On the other hand, he is now a regular on television as an analyst and perhaps he is a far more familiar face on Indian television than he ever was during his playing days.

#1 Anil Kumble

He is quite simply the greatest bowler to have ever played for India and throughout the 90s and a major portion of the noughties, Anil Kumble remained the primary wicket-taking threat for the team.

He went on to become the captain of the Test team as well towards the end of his career and for the duration of his career, he was one of the team's biggest stars.

However, unlike his contemporaries like say Sachin Tendulkar or Sourav Ganguly among others, Kumble was hardly ever seen on TV advertisements. It probably remains one of the big enigmas of how exactly advertising in India works, particularly in case of cricketers.