Ravi Shastri's Gold Audi and How It Changed Indian Sport

Long ago, in 1985, a young Indian cricketer named Ravi Shastri won a big cricket tournament in Australia.

His prize was a shiny gold car called an Audi.

He was so excited that he drove it around the cricket ground, even though he did not have a driving license.

His teammates sat on the car, and one player's spiked shoes scratched the gold paint.

Back in India, foreign cars were almost impossible to buy, so thousands of people came to the docks just to see the car.

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi helped make sure the car could enter the country without paying a huge tax.

The gold car became famous and showed Indians that athletes could win wonderful prizes.

After that, Indian cricketers started getting big advertising deals and became brand stars.

Today, Indian cricket and sports sponsorship are worth huge amounts of money, and many people say it all started with that gold car.