Indian cricketers have always been chasing Bollywood skirts (or saris) and Bollywood babes have always loved to wrap themslves on the arms of cricketers like they were the Sahara sponsorship logo. Even Geoff Boycott couldn't take his eyes off Shilpa Shetty much before the Indian starlet became a household name in Boycott's Britain.

With the recent debacle in the World Cup Cricket in the West Indies, Pakistan threw up a mysterious reverse swing, with the death or murder of their coach Bob Woolmer immediately after.

Twin country India saw Indian adverrtisers throw out someof the iconic names from their ad contracts and even dropped many of the ads already being telecast like they were so many stinging catches offered by the Indian cricketers!

As in play, ad play, and making a play for each other, Bollywood stars and cricketers have also been the two main "icons" in endorsement ads, not unexpectedly as films and cricket (lately of course tennis babe Sania Mirza also shot into the frames) are the main source of celebrity glitter for the Indian audiences.

It's always been Shah Rukh Khan versus Sachin Tendulkar, symbolically and adwise.

With the World Cup coming up, the Indian cricketers were raking in the currency notes if not the runs and wickets. And naturally run out their filmstar partners at the other end. But then came the too-early exit from the World Cup.

Apart from the witch-hunting and blame game being now played, and the Indian population dismayed beyond words, in a startling googly, even the advertisers have run back to their crease.

Bollywood has once again become the top endorsers in India after its cricketers failed the advertising industry with a dismal first-round exit from the World Cup.

Cricket-themed campaigns worth millions of dollars -- selling everything from consumer goods and electronics to automobiles and financial services -- were pulled off the media as companies tried to disassociate their brands from the cricketers. So much for "endorsements".

India is a major market for the five major global cricket sponsors -- South Korea's LG Electronics, PepsiCo Inc, Hutchison Telecom, motorcycle maker Hero Honda and Indian Oil.

All have been badly hit by India's early exit from the World Cup, with total losses estimated at nearly $37 million, industry officials said. And it is only natural, considering the universal mood againsty the cricketers, that their endorsements not only ring hollow, but tend to have a negative and counter-productive impact.

Television and print commercials featuring cricketers, who until the World Cup debacle were more in demand than filmstars, have been withdrawn by Pepsi, electronics firms Videocon and Sansui and consumer goods company ITC, among others.

"If this goes on and we keep losing, then I tell you all cricketers will be off the clients' list," said Alyque Padamsee, an Indian advertising analyst, told a news agency.

"They'll say 'No, I don't want any cricketers, you can never tell if their form is up, their form is down. Give me movie stars'."

The industry is also reconsidering a strategy of having cricketers as brand ambassadors because of the team's fickle fortunes and the repeated failure of individual players.

Bollywood, advertisers feel, is a safer bet not only because filmstars retain their appeal for longer despite flop films, but also being professional actors their sales pitch looks less contrived than that of a cricketer.

Videocon is renewing ties with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to endorse products. His popularity cannot be compared to any cricketer, according to the company head, referring to the actor's wide acceptance among consumers. "He's above all in any given season."

Other Bollywood heavyweights such as Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan and Abhishek Bachchan were being reapproached by corporate houses. - (SAMPURN)