Why Sunil Gavaskar passed up lucrative deals to sign a lifetime contract with the SG brand

Sanspareils Greenlands (SG) co-owner and marketing director Paras Anand recently opened up about former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar's association with the brand.

In an exclusive interview with Indranil Basu on Sportskeeda Cricket's Facebook page, Anand narrated how the original Little Master signed a contract with SG, despite having many other more lucrative offers on his table.

When asked about SG's partnership with Sunil Gavaskar, Anand said:

"The association started in the late '70s. That was a time when we weren't selling our brand aggressively in India. The gloves had become popular with Indian cricketers. Everybody was using English brands, but Mr. Gavaskar found the SG gloves to be better than what was there in the market."

"He asked if he can get the gloves from the manufacturer. A common friend approached us and even though he had a contract with another brand, he liked those gloves so much. He had gotten used to the product and he started talking to us directly."

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How Sunil Gavaskar signed a lifetime contract with SG

Sunil Gavaskar wielded an SG willow while breaking most of his records

Anand further spoke about how SG managed to tie down Sunil Gavaskar to a lifetime contract, and said that the former opener passed up on many other massive contracts from foreign brands.

"In 83, we finally managed to get him to sign a formal contract, and the rest is history. He broke most of his records with the SG bat and when he retired in 87, he was still using SG. The contract was a lifetime contract. He let go of a massive contract just for this association."

Sunil Gavaskar is undoubtedly one of the greatest batsmen that India have ever produced, and he used the SG 'Triple Crown' and 'Sunny Tonny' bats in the latter parts of his career. The famous bat manufacturer, which has been endorsed by Indian legends like Mohammad Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, is one of the most respected brands in the country.