TILL NOW, cricket has been a passion for Indians and the ad agencies have, apparently, realized that they have milked the cow dry. BCCI, it is believed would not hesitate to axe such players who have lost their charms.

The TRP ratings of the recent Test matches have revealed an alarming picture – the values have reduced (0.89 and 0.7 for the first two Tests in Australia) and it is obvious that cricket has lost its mass appeal due to players who have reached their level of incompetence.

The captain M S Dhoni had been drawing ad revenue to the tune of Rs 6 to 7 crores per brand endorsement after the World Cup win in 2011 but, with the way things are showing up, he might lose a lot. Similar is the condition for other brand ambassadors like Sachin Tendulkar. Brand ambassadors do not have any escape routes – they must never fail, they must be super performers – at all times.

To the ad world, in order to survive, they have to go in for drastic steps like vanishing all the old faces from the TV screens to regain the trust of the viewers. Given the low morale of the team and the determination of the Australians, there is no telling how the ODI series would shape up. And – the effects would be felt in the next session of the IPL scheduled for February 2012.