CXOs in Sports: Interview with Yajurvindra Singh Bilkha, Marketing and Sports Consultant, TCS

Sportskeeda brings another exciting series of interviews – CXOs in Sports, where we speak to eminent and prominent personalities in the sports industry, talking about their sporting interests and ideas for development of sports in general and of their sports work/interest in particular.

Mr. Yajurvindra Singh Bilkha

Mr. Yajurvindra Singh Bilkha is an ex-Indian cricketer who jointly holds the world record for taking most catches in an innings (5) and a match (7) in Test cricket. He created this world record on his debut in the 4th Test between India and England in 1977 in Bangalore. India went on to win the match by 140 runs.

A brilliant close-in fielder, ‘Sunny’, as he is known since childhood, hails from Rajkot and studied at the popular Rajkumar College in the city. Mr. Bilkha has a unique experience of having played international cricket and spending almost four decades in the corporate world.

After pursuing BA in Economics from Pune University and management in marketing from UK, Mr. Bilkha joined one of the leading automobile companies in India, Mahindra and Mahindra. In 2000, with 26 years of experience under his belt, Mr. Bilkha was then appointed the Managing Director of Wisden India and was instrumental in establishing the reputed brand in India.

He later joined Tata Consultancy Services and is currently the Head Corporate Events and Sports at TCS. Recently, he was in a chat with Sportskeeda:

You jointly hold the record of most catches in an innings and match in Tests. At what time during that game in Bangalore did you come to know of the world record?

(I came to know about) the record of 5 catches when I returned to the dressing room. The 7 catches record – I was aware of it and having equalled it with the first two wickets, waited patiently. I tried fielding at all the possible positions without success. So I was aware as regards trying to break it.

You’ve helped Indian fielders earlier behind the scenes with close catching. In the past few months, India has suffered due to lapses in this field. Where do you see Indian fielders going wrong? What are the finer details which make a great close-in fielder?

Never had the opportunity to help the Indian team or in any BCCI programs. Greg Chappell once called me to assess and advise them. A short 1 hour stint.

Unfortunately, we do not have very good close-in fielders at present, solely because the popular shorter versions of the game do not require it. So cricketers are practising more in the 30 yards circle rather than close catching. Fielding close requires firstly for one to want to field there and enjoy it as a challenge.

One needs good reflexes, soft hands, good concentration and patience, correct stance and positioning and plenty of guts and practise. One has to master the position through regularly fielding there. One cannot decide to stand there just to fill a requirement.

It needs plenty of skills to be a specialist. A good example recently is (Alex) Doolan from Australia who changed the fortune of the Test match against South Africa through his brilliant fielding at forward short leg and backward short leg.

How was the transition from sports field to corporate world? How did your experience on the cricket field help you at Mahindra and Mahindra, Wisden, and TCS?

I was already a part of the corporate world while I played cricket as we were true amateurs. Cricket did not pay much. One learned a lot through the game which was an advantage to me in my career.

To be a team player, respect your seniors and your fellow colleagues. Take up challenges and be patient and cool and collective in achieving ones goals. It gave me good networking and presentation skills and helped me immensely in acquiring leadership qualities.

The biggest gain was to be able to take defeat and enjoy and respect wins. Like cricket, challenges were an important factor as one needed to get one’s adrenaline pumping to get the best results. So I was always ready to take up any challenging assignment which did help me in my progress to a senior level position.

Yajurvindra Singh Bilkha celebrates a catch during his world record performance on debut against England in 1977

How were you introduced to cricket? Do you still play?

I played cricket from my school days. I studied at the famous Rajkumar College, Rajkot. The school well known in the cricket circles because of RanjitSinghji and Duleepsinghji. Our pavilion and tales were full of their exploits and cricket therefore was a part of our DNA. My grandfather, the Maharaja of Bilkha was a patron of cricket and so from my childhood the game was a part of our growth.

I do not play it any more.

As Managing Director of Wisden India, you sought to bring more statistical analysis to the viewers, with partnerships resulting with Doordarshan too. Were you satisfied with the viewers’ response?

Wisden is known for cricket statistics, being the oldest company as regards cricket records. I thought leadership was required to make the brand known in India and we were very pleased by our associations with DD and the other partners. It got us a lot of viewership, not only online, but through TV, magazines and newspapers.

What were your biggest challenges in bringing Wisden to India?

The biggest challenge was to establish the Wisden brand as the authority as regards cricket information and records through all the multi-media channels in India.

Wisden entered India again in 2012 with Wisden India Almanack. What is your take on the new publication?

I am not aware of what they are doing at present. The internet has made the Almanack totally redundant. We had foreseen this may happen 10 years ago.

The partnership of TCS with Rajasthan Royals was the first of its kind. What have you brought on the plate for the IPL team?

It has been a truly wonderful partnership with RR. More than the brand exposure, our ground level, online and off-line interaction with the likes of Shane Warne, Rahul Dravid, Graeme Smith, Shane Watson and all the other members of the RR team has been invaluable. RR’s interacting with our customers and associates through events, hospitality and product launch were very well received by one and all.

With various domestic leagues sprouting up in India after IPL, have IT companies now warmed up to the idea of partnerships with professional sports teams?

IT companies have most of their clients overseas. So most of the sponsorships have to be associated with properties that have an impact with customers there. Big sponsorship, therefore in India, will not happen immediately.

At TCS, we do make a specific effort on keeping our associates fit and healthy and so running is an area that the company has focussed on and our partnership with Procam has been excellent in that area. So I do not see the IT companies going in a big way with the new branded sports activities. Mahesh Bhupathi‘s tennis initiative could be of interest to the IT companies as it has some well known foreign players associated with it.

As someone who has seen sports in India from close quarters, how do you view India’s growth in this sphere in the last decade? What do we still lack in terms of technology in sports?

More than technology we lack transparency. Sports is controlled by politicians who are there because of the system that exists. We need to bring in professionalism. Apart from cricket, the rest of the sports are facing an uphill task in getting funds and structured systems in place.

We need to give more incentives for sports related activities, for eg. corporate spend in sports should get tax exemptions similar to CSR activities. They should be given all the incentives to put up sports facilities that could be shared with schools and the be encouraged to set up academies etc. A partnership between the government and corporates is one such solution.

What is your most enduring memory from days you spent in the Indian dressing room?

The fun and light hearted banter that regaled us when we played. The friendship among us went much further than just as individuals, but also extended with the spouses and other family members. The performances of legends like Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Bishan Bedi, Viswanath etc. and watching some incredible performances from close quarters.

Hailing from Saurashtra, what’s your reaction to the rise of new age Saurashtra cricketers like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja? It has always produced great talent, but what has the biggest reason behind their phenomenal rise lately in domestic cricket according to you?

Saurashtra has always had immense talent. From the days of Ranji, Duleep we have had Vinoo Mankad, Salim Durani and so many match winning cricketers. It is wonderful to find that the tradition is going strong with Pujara and Jadeja. Both are very talented cricketers who have gone past all are records.

The biggest reason is that in the earlier days, the talented cricketers had to move to big cities that had the facilities to play on turf wickets and better competitive tournaments. Jobs were also only available in such towns and so talented cricketers had to move their residence. This fortunately is not the case now as facilities in Saurashtra have improved immensely.

For our readers, any message or quote you’d like to share, something that summarises the importance of sports in your life?

Cricket is a game for a real live man- Keep fit little man, keep fit!