Star value: Padding up for the future

It's a piece of moulded protection that has become a rage in international cricket; a craze and a status symbol among Indian cricketers. Look at the legs of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni —- they all look the same. They all wear Morrant Ultralite pads. And in due course, India's emerging new Test opener, Dinesh Kaarthick will join the bandwagon too.

The pads are manufactured by a British company based in South Woodford, London —- owned and managed by an Indian, Dilip Jagodia.

As the story goes, Jagodia could never overcome the fear of the ball after a rising delivery hit his mouth while batting. The pads won't provide protection at that point, but Jagodia threw himself into the sports-goods business and succeeded in making his own mark in world of cricket.

To cater to the increasing demand back in India for Morrant pads, and to stop the increasing number of fakes, Jagodia has decided to enter the Indian market as well with a collaboration with Sportsline —- makers of Yonkers skates, run by ex-badminton player Virendernath Pal.

So the Morrant pads, and its 'original' desi-version, will now be available, in different sizes to meet all age-group demands.

If Tendulkar and his teammates have made the product popular, it was none other than the legendary Sunil Gavaskar who helped this type of pads get recognition in the first place. "I was selling these pads in very small quantities in the UK. It was in 1973 when I met Sunil (Gavaskar) because he came on that tour to England. He came along with Brijesh Patel —- Brijesh and I went to the same school, Bishop Cotton, and he knew me and my sports goods business here.

"We met, and Sunil saw these pads and he said oh...these are fantastic, I will try them. When he tried these pads in the nets, it helped his footwork. So he started wearing them," Dilip recalls. "In those days there was no question of endorsement or anything. It was just something he wanted to wear. And he continued to wear them throughout his career."

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