MUMBAI: Star Sports has appointed Rajiv Mathrani as its new chief marketing officer (CMO), a source close to the development has confirmed to Indiantelevision.com. Mathrani joined Star Sports on 17 September 2018. In his last gig, he worked as chief brand and online officer at Airtel, where he led the transformation of the telecom giant into a digital services player.

In a career spanning close to two decades, Mathrani has worked with top companies including Pepsico, GlaxoSmithKline, Citibank and Marico Industries. He was a creative consultant for a brief period of three years, before returning to the corporate world as vice president marketing at Pepsico in 2010. He was elevated to Pepsico senior director - snacks category head in 2014.

Mathrani holds a PGDBM in marketing from XLRI Jamshedpur.

In a recent development, Star had expressed displeasure with regards to Virat Kohli’s absence from Asia Cup. The broadcaster wrote an email to ACC game development manager Thusith Perera, stating how Kohli’s absence will impact the financial aspect of the coverage. The broadcaster wrote that it will impact their ability to monetise and generate revenue for the tournament.

Responding to the email, BCCI, however, in a sharp reply to ACC has made it clear that neither it nor broadcasters have any say in national team selection matters.