India vs England: What will Ben Stokes do with Rs 1 lakh in Paytm cash?

After Jadhav and Yuvraj, Ben Stokes receives Rs 1 lakh in Paytm cash as man of the match award

On Sunday, even as England stole its only win in the three-match one-day international (ODI) series, Kolkata’s Eden Gardens became witness to some attractive strokeplay and superlative cricket in the India vs England 3rd ODI. Though the Eoin Morgan-led England side had already lost the series by conceding the first two matches, it was able to avert a whitewash with its 5-run victory over Virat Kohli’s team India.

Earlier, the first ODI of the series in Pune had seen a lot of excitement – from Kohli’s knock of 122, his 27th century in the 50-over format, to Kedar Jadhav’s valiant 120; and above all, India’s dramatic chase of a mammoth 350 put on the board by England with 11 balls to spare. And, if that was not enough, series sponsor Paytm added some more excitement with its interesting prize for the man of the match – Jadhav received Rs 1 lakh worth of Paytm money!

One question immediately ran across one’s mind: What if it an English player had been the man of the match? Would he also get Paytm money? If yes, what would he do with that? Would he get it transferred to his bank account; and if he would, what would be the cost involved in doing so for a foreign account?

The second ODI between the two sides, played in Cuttack, hardly answered any of these questions. India batted first and amassed a huge score of 381 – with exciting knocks of 150 and 134 by Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni, respectively. England fell short by 15 runs and, again, the man of the match was an Indian, Yuvraj.

Approached by Business Standard, a Paytm official had said they were not sure if English players would also be given Paytm cash. It seemed Paytm cash was only for Indian players and there was something else in store for the English.

The result of the third and final ODI on Sunday, however, saw a departure from the trend in the first two matches. Despite some powerful knocks towards the end of the innings by Hardik Pandya and Jadhav, India fell short by 5 runs in its chase of 322. Ben Stokes, an Englishman, took home the man of the match award. Interestingly, he was also given Rs 1 lakh in Paytm cash. The man of the series, Jadhav, meanwhile, received a cheque of Rs 2.5 lakh.

In June last year, Paytm had said its wallet clould not be used for payments outside India under the current regulations. The Alibaba-backed e-wallet company had later issued a clarification through newspaper advertisements and said it was providing the update for usage of Paytm on Uber through a tie-up with Alipay. This was a month after Paytm had said its wallet users could use digital cash stored in their e-wallets to pay for Uber cab rides abroad in Indian rupees. 

Though it still remains unclear how Stokes would use his Paytm cash, it seems the digital payment platform had been as confident of an India victory as every Indian fan had been hopeful. In fact, it also seems that Paytm was expecting a series whitewash, in which case there might have been little likelihood of an English player winning the man of the match award.

Amid all this, Paytm clearly knows a thing or two about impromptu branding. Earlier, when Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had spoken on microblogging site Twitter about the difficulties faced by the common man in the wake of the Narendra Modi government’s decision to demonetise high-value currency, Paytm’s Twitter handle had cheekily replied: “Dear Kejriwal ji we’ve got two words for you ‘Paytm Karo’.

In the days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on November 8 last year announced the existing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would cease to be legal tender, one company that had emerged as the real winner was Paytm. With the withdrawal of cash becoming increasingly difficult in the aftermath, Indians fell back on digital transactions through platforms like Paytm, which saw exponential growth. Paytm also was quite vocal in endorsing Modi’s idea of demonetisation and put out front-page advertisements in all leading national dailies projecting the PM as a brand ambassador for a new ‘Digital India’.