IPL trophy
The Indian Premier League's Governing Council on Sunday decided to retain all its sponsors, including Chinese mobile company VIVO, and approved COVID-19 replacements in the event to be held in UAE this year.
The tournament will be played from September 19 to November 10, the IPL GC decided after a virtual meeting on Sunday.
"All I can say is that all our sponsors are with us. Hopefully you can read between the lines," an IPL GC member told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Anti-China sentiments were running high in India following the border clash between the two countries at Galwan valley earlier in June. The first skirmish at the India-China border in more than four decades left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead.
Since then, calls have been made to boycott Chinese products. But Dhumal said Chinese companies sponsoring an Indian event like the IPL only serve his country's interests. The BCCI gets Rs 440 crore annually from Vivo and the five-year deal ends in 2022.
"When you talk emotionally, you tend to leave the rationale behind. We have to understand the difference between supporting a Chinese company for a Chinese cause or taking help from Chinese company to support India's cause," Dhumal told PTI.
"When we are allowing Chinese companies to sell their products in India, whatever money they are taking from Indian consumer, they are paying part of it to the BCCI (as brand promotion) and the board is paying 42 per cent tax on that money to the Indian government. So, that is supporting India's cause and not China's," he argued.
Dhumal said he is all for reducing dependence on Chinese products but as long as its companies are allowed to do business in India, there is no harm in them sponsoring an Indian brand like the IPL.
"If they are not supporting the IPL, they are likely to take that money back to China. If that money is retained here, we should be happy about it. We are supporting our government with that money (by paying taxes on it).
"If I am giving a contract to a Chinese company to build a cricket stadium, then I am helping the Chinese economy. GCA built the world's largest cricket stadium at Motera and that contract was given to an Indian company (L&T)," he said.
