Madras Rubber Factory (MRF), despite not being a bat-manufacturing company initially, sprung into the limelight in the cricketing world after a few iconic and legendary cricketers started sporting its logo on their bats as bat stickers.
The company, which is based out of Chennai, manufactured rubber items, and specialised in MRF tyres. But after receiving a lot of applause and praise for their bats and its popularity, it started manufacturing cricketing bats and equipment.
Since cricket is a billion-dollar industry in India and this sport is a religion in this country, MRF decided to heavily invest in this industry. MRF bats are premium bats and are priced quite high. There are a few reasonable MRF bats of Kashmir Willow but the English Willow bats are quite expensive. MRF bat price of Kashmir Willow range from Rs. 600- Rs. 3000 on an average but the English Willow bats are ranged at a higher price.
In this article, we take a look at the top 10 cricketers who have used MRF Brand bats:
1. Sachin Tendulkar
At a time when Slazenger and Gray Nicolls did the talking in the cricketing world in the fag end of the 20th century, MRF entered into the cricketing circuit after Sachin Tendulkar started sporting its logo on his bat after the completion of the ICC ODI World Cup 1996.
Sachin Tendulkar orchestrated the revolution for MRF and instantly made the stocks of the company rise after his impeccable performances.
2. Steve Waugh
One of the most influential and successful captains of Australia, Steve Waugh is considered as another cricketing pioneer who used the MRF Brand bat between 2001 and 2004. He was the second cricketer to use a MRF bat and played a significant role in the popularity of MRF bats in the early 21st century.
3. Virat Kohli
Undoubtedly, the biggest ambassador of this sport, Virat Kohli is the current torchbearer of the MRF company. The kind of impact which Virat Kohli can leave on a viewer’s mind is unparallelled and MRF pounced on this opportunity and grabbed it with both hands.
After his deal with Nike ended, Virat Kohli has been using bats of MRF and has been promoting it on his blazing blade.
4. Brian Lara
West Indian cricketing legend and the only player to score 400 runs in a single innings in Test cricket, Brian Lara too used to use MRF bats. Lara’s weapon had the word ‘Wizard’ written over it and he had the potential and the ability to conjure magic on the cricketing field.
Brian Lara started using MRF bats since 2003 and used it till he called it quits from cricket in 2007. The southpaw played 131 Tests and 299 ODIs for West Indies and amassed 11,953 and 10,405 runs respectively for the 2-time ODI World Cup champions.
5. Shikhar Dhawan
One of India’s most dependable openers, Shikhar Dhawan, too has used the MRF bats. Dhawan has been playing with MRF bats since 2013 and has been sporting the logo, quite brilliantly and fashionably.
Dhawan is considered as a beast in white-ball cricket and specialises in playing in ICC tournaments.
6. Ajaz Patel
Quite an unusual name in this list but the New Zealand spinner, Ajaz Patel, too has had used the MRF bats while batting. Be it in domestic cricket or international cricket, we have seen Patel using the MRF bats and the 35-year-old cricketer has so far played 16 Tests and 7 T20Is for New Zealand.
As he was born in Mumbai and has Indian origins, the MRF deal of Ajaz Patel is a no-brainer.
7. AB De Villers
One of South Africa’s greatest-ever batters, AB De Villiers was the flagbearer of MRF bats from South Africa. He signed a deal with MRF in 2017 and has also used the bat during the glamorous, Indian Premier League (IPL).
AB De Villers had buccaneering abilities with the bat and could smear the bowlers all across the park.
8. Prithvi Shaw
MRF penned a deal with the young Prithvi Shaw in 2017 and had the deal till 2021. Prithvi Shaw was making quite the waves in domestic cricket in India and then captained India to the title in the ICC U-19 ODI World Cup in 2018.
After being out of contention from the Indian team due to poor form and disciplinary issues, MRF didn’t continue the deal with Shaw.
9. Rohit Sharma
The present Indian captain has had several deals with bat-manufacturing companies and some of them include CEAT, Reebok, Ton and MRF. Rohit Sharma had a deal with MRF when he was bursting on to the international scene, post the ICC T20 World Cup 2007.
MRF strategic deal with Rohit Sharma saw him use the bat on quite a few international tours and assignments.
10. Gautam Gambhir
The fantastic knock from Gautam Gambhir in the ICC ODI World Cup 2011 final in hard to forget, right? But cast your mind back to the bat which the southpaw was using in that tournament.
It was none other than the MRF bat and Gautam Gambhir was one of the key torchbearers of this bat in India. Gambhir has played quite a few pivotal knocks for India at the highest level and is a true champion.
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