BoB wants to replace Dravid with Dhoni

MUMBAI: It’s Mallya trouble again for former India cricket captain Rahul Dravid.
After being flayed by Bangalore Royal Challengers’ owner Vijay Mallya for his team’s dismal show in the ongoing Indian Premier League tournament, ‘The Wall’ is now facing the boot from Bank of Baroda, headed by Mangalore Devdas Mallya.

Bank officials say they are unlikely to renew Dravid’s contract as BoB’s brand ambassador.

MD Mallya, who took charge of the bank earlier this month, told NewsWire18, “It is too early to comment on.”

Officials said Bank of Baroda is now eyeing the services of current skipper of the One-Day International and Twenty-20 cricket teams Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

“There is no question of renewing Rahul Dravid’s contract,” an official said citing the recent loss of form of the beleaguered cricketer, who was hired by the bank when AK Khandelwal was at the helm.

The glitch in seeking out Dhoni, however, is the price tag, officials say.
Dhoni, who is yet to endorse any financial services company, is asking a price about seven times that paid to Dravid.

The bank had approached Dhoni’s Delhi-based agent recently.  Officials say Dhoni is asking for a whopping Rs70 million per annum, whereas Dravid got Rs40 million rupees in four years.

Bankers point out that it is the controversy surrounding the price and not the price tag per se, which is an issue for Bank of Baroda.

“For a bank, which records about Rs15 billion yearly profit, Rs70 million is nothing. However, there are other issues,” an official said.

The state-run bank had come under fire for spending Rs40 million on Dravid.
Not only questions were raised in Parliament, litigations were filed on justification of spending Rs10 million per annum on a brand ambassador.

BOX:
WHY DHONI?
The bank feels Dhoni is the right candidate at this point even though his persona is drastically opposite from the current ambassador.

“The bank is proposing an aggressive, youth friendly face to its prospective customers.
Dhoni perfectly fits the attitude of the bank,” the official said.

Dravid, who made his debut in 1996, has played 112 test matches with an average of nearly 55 runs per match and 333 one-day internationals with an average of 40 runs. He has played 12 Twenty-20 matches where he averaged a mere 28 runs per innings.
He was made captain of the Indian cricket team in 2005, and stepped down in 2007.

Dhoni, who debuted in 2004 in one-day match, has played 29 tests with an average of 34 runs. He has played 106 one-day international matches having an average of 45.5 runs per match.