According to industry body Sports Goods and Fitness Equipment Manufacturers and Suppliers in Kolkata, the city has already purchased sports goods worth Rs 1 crore, catapulted by the IPL furore since April 18.
The sports goods manufacturers and retailers are of the opinion that sale of cricket equipment like bats, wickets and balls have increased by about 30 per cent.
Sales of bat within the price of Rs 300 have increased manifold. So has sale of wickets that are priced within Rs 100 per piece and balls that cost within Rs 100.
Sports equipment retailers in Kolkata sell bats priced between Rs 200 and Rs 15,000 a piece, while wickets are priced between Rs 40 and Rs 100 per piece. The cricket balls are priced between Rs 50 and Rs 500.
According to the store manager of BodyLine Sports, an importer and distributor of sports and fitness equipment in Kolkata, "Our sales have jumped by at least 25 per cent since the time IPL matches started. Buyers demand a complete set of cricket equipment. Recently, buyers have also started demanding the Kolkata Knight Riders jerseys and caps, but we don't have that stock yet."
G K Sports, situated on Jawaharlal Nehru Road, has been selling cricket goods in bulk since April 18. "Institutional purchases for cricket goods have gone up by about 30 per cent in the last two weeks, especially for the lower-priced products," the store manager with G K Sports confirmed.
According to the store manager of Sportrack Castlewood on Park Street in Kolkata, "We have about five consumers everyday buying cricket goods from us."
Many smaller sports clubs in the city are conducting cricket matches among its members following the IPL format, which have also pushed up the sales of cricket goods.
According to Uma Bhowmick of Pratichi Club, located in south Kolkata, "Since most of our young boys are interested in the IPL matches, we thought of organising cricket matches among our club members. As IPL is the buzzword now, we thought of following the T20 format and playing as Kolkata Knight Riders would, wearing the same jerseys. We have already bought around 12 jerseys, new cricket gear and equipment for our participating boys."
According to Churni Dasgupta of Sitala Tala Athletic Club Committee of Chandernagore, "It was a request from our club members to host inter-club cricket tournaments following the T20 format as that is the buzzword right now. This meant new Kolkata Knight Riders jerseys and caps along with new bats, balls and wickets, as our matches too would go on till about June, like the IPL matches."
