Ravi Shastri, the former Indian captain and all-rounder, has added buzz tothe cricket-management industry by launching Showdiff Worldwide, inpartnership with Rediffusion-Dentsu Young & Rubicam

Wisden CricInfo staff12-Aug-2003Ravi Shastri, the former Indian captain and all-rounder, has added buzz tothe cricket-management industry by launching Showdiff Worldwide, inpartnership with Rediffusion-Dentsu Young & Rubicam. Billed as a talent andevent management company, it aims to manage a wide variety of personalitiesand events, from film to sport to fashion.The launch of this company, announced at a press conference in Mumbai onTuesday, comes at a time when speculation is rife about Sourav Ganguly’sassociation with Percept D’ Mark. Ganguly’s contract with Percept D’Markends in September and according to uncomfirmed reports, he has been offereda Rs 60 crore deal by World Sports Group Nimbus.In Shastri’s case however, the main point of interest, is Sachin Tendulkar,who has been managed by WorldTel for several years now. But WorldTel hasbeen severely hit by the deaths of Mark Mascarenhas, its founder and guidingspirit, and Sameer Singh, the CEO, both to car crashes in the last two years.Though Shastri currently holds no official post with WorldTel, it is an open secret that he has been closely associated with it as a player management consultant. It was Shastri that was in fact instrumental in bringing Mascarenhas and Tendulkar together.”WorldTel will always remain close to my heart,” he said at thepress conference, adding, “I’m happy to help them (WorldTel) out in anyway I can, even today.” He added that Showdiff and WorldTel would worktogether towards a better future.Shastri also said that Tendulkar will continue to be associated withWorldTel.When asked which celebrities they had signed up, Showdiff declined toget down to specifics, saying they would announce their signings at anopportune moment.