Sachin Tendulkar and his long-time agent Vinod Nayudu part ways

Sachin Tendulkar and his long-time agent Vinod Nayudu have cut professional ties after close 15 years of association. This reportedly has created a bit of shock in the celebrity management fraternity.

Their association was very close. So close that Sachin Tendulkar had even mentioned him in his farewell speech he gave at the Wankhede Stadium in 2013 mentioning him as his family.

…Someone who has worked closely with me for 14 years is my manager, Vinod Nayudu. He is more like my family and all the sacrifices, spending time away from his family for my work, has been special, so big thank you to his family as well for giving up so much time for my work with Vinod,” Tendulkar had said on November 16, 2013, his last day in international cricket.

The association between Tendulkar and Vinod goes back to 2002 after the death of Tendulkar’s first ever manager Mark Mascarenhas whose WorldTel had the legend signed the first-ever mega celebrity deal in October 1995 (for Rs 30 crores for five years).

Vinod has been responsible for signing up major endorsement deals with RSB, Aviva Life Insurance, Adidas, BMW, MRF, Luminous Power, Coke, etc.

Vinod and Tendulkar remained unavailable but both sides maintained that the parting was amicable. “SRT Sports Management manages Sachin Tendulkar’s existing and potential commercial commitments. This follows the culmination of his relationship with WSG which is aligned to the corporate developments at WSG.”

“At SRT Sports Management, we are presently developing the team and will strive to emerge as a world class organization in the field of sports management,” a spokesperson for the company told Mirror. The company was apparently set up in April this year.