BharatPe founder Ashneer Grover reveals why he turned down Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma for an ad

Former Shark Tank India judge and founder of BharatPe Ashner Grover recently shared an interesting anecdote on a podcast, recalling how he turned down former Team India captain Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma as brand ambassadors.

Speak on the Vagehra Vagehra podcast, Grover revealed that he wasn’t thrilled with the couple’s shoot since it wasn’t a lehenga shoot. Grover went on to say that he was discussing an IPL deal with some brokers and suggested that because every inch of the players’ jerseys is filled with advertisements, he might put his company’s logo on their backs.

“Maine bola chalo, Virat Kohli ko le lete hain, aur usne ek amount of boli. Abhi bolunga nahi, Virat Kohli bura moon jayega. Phir bola ke Anushka ko bhi saath mein le lo. Maine bola maine kaunse Manyavar ke lehenge pehnane hain aur sherwani bechni hai, woh Manyavar waalon ne kar liya hai,” said the Indian businessman.

“Maine bola koi aur player bata, woh bolta hai ke uske baad kisi ki aukaat hi nahi hai. Maine kaha ek kaam kar, jitne ka tu mujhe Kohli bech raha tha na, usko divide by two kar, aur iss number pe mujhe baaki 11 player laa de. Either kari phir, 11 player liye, kohli divided by two ke number pe.

(Kohli asked for an amount, which I won’t reveal here; he will be offended. They also offered me Anushka as a package deal, and I said I didn’t want to repeat what Manyavar had already done. So I asked if they could give me 11 other players for half what Kohli demanded (and that’s the deal I ended up making).

Grover shared the story with Kohli

In the podcast, Grover said he doesn’t have a photo with a cricketer except Kohli. After meeting the man himself, Grover told Kohli why he turned him down and hired 11 other players.

“Mere pas ek bhi player ke saath photo nahi hai, main shoot pe nahi gaya. Ek hello photo hai, Kohli ke saath baat karte hue recently. Aur jo Kohli ke saath baat kar raha tha na, main usse yehi kissa suna raha tha, ke kaise aapko bechne aaye she, aur maine baake 11 player le liiye aapko nahi liya. Kohli bola, ‘It’s a very good thing’.

(I don’t have a single photo with any of them; I didn’t even go for the shoots. I only have one photo where I was talking to Kohli the other day. And I told him about this story. He said it’s very good business) .”

Meanwhile, Kohli will be back in action with the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka. He hit a brilliant century in his last 50-over game against bangladesh in Chatgram.