Bengaluru recorded a hike in sales of cricket equipment as shop owners sell more in this T20 World Cup season.
Sports goods shop owners recorded one of the highest hikes in the sale of the cricket bats in October and November 2022. “The T20 World Cup started on October 16, and this recorded an increase in the sale of sports equipment related to cricket,” said Bhakta, owner of Olympic Sports in Gandhi Nagar near Majestic Metro Station.
Bhakta said, “In 2021, I made a sale of Rs. 23 lakh for the entire year. This year till November first week, I have made a sale of Rs. 33 lakh. Since the start of October , we have received orders from various cricket academies. Many schools also ordered cricket equipment in bulk; they were not only from Bengaluru but also from other places as well.” He added, “Even young children came with their parents to purchase cricket bats and balls.”
Sandeep Rakhra , owner of Rakhra Sports House said, “The purchases were high in numbers, the orders I received this year in October were almost double of what I received in October 2021. Most orders came from parents of young boys and cricket academies.”
Bhakta added that they do not make much of the equipment here in Bengaluru, but get it from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. This month they gave an order for more than seven lakh bats to be purchased from Meerut.
Sunil Sharma , owner of Kapil Sports, a sports goods manufacturer from Meerut said, “We received many orders from Bengaluru alone and then Hyderabad and Punjab.” Sharma deals in trading and manufacturing of cricket bats. He said, “There was an increase in order numbers this year from Bengaluru and especially in the month of October since the World Cup started. The sales hiked up to Rs. ten lakh which included the sales of bats and balls.”
Sumit Chadha of Grasshopper Cricket Company from Meerut said, “We sell leather balls in a box and one box consists of a set of six balls. We sold around 275 boxes to our dealers in Bengaluru in 2021. This year, we sold around 350 boxes of balls till November.”
Venkatesh, Manager of YMCA College of Physical Education, said, “Amongst this cricket fever ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) and International Cricket Council (ICC) matches many new players are having the sudden urge to come up and play cricket. Cricket academies are witnessing more number of admissions this year. This sudden urge among the young players has led to an increase in sales of cricket equipment. Players, who are not even selected for any kind of tournaments, are showing interest in buying professional cricket kits for practice.”
Ashu Chowdhary, Head of the Department, Business Studies at KL International School, Meerut, said, “Culture, interest and occasions are one of the main factors that determine supply of commodities, these are the possible reasons that have indeed helped in increasing the demand for cricket equipment amidst famous cricket tours like that of IPL AND ICC matches.”
