No jersey sponsors for India at WTC final
A vacant commercial slot is rare for Indian cricket, but the prevailing view in the board is not to go for low-key stop-gap deals
Rohit Sharma and Co’s playing gear at the World Test Championship final could feel like a throwback in time with the Board of Control for Cricket in India looking to go ahead without any jersey sponsors.
Many of the players who have begun training in the UK are seen in training clothing which sports only new kit sponsors Adidas’ three stripes and the BCCI logo.
This is rare in today’s time when maximization of commercial slots is the order of the day. BCCI’s contract with Byju’s for jersey sponsorship expired in March after the ed-tech major wanted out of the deal – which was supposed to run until November – due to adverse market conditions.
BCCI officials were expected to issue tenders inviting interested parties for a long-term association but haven’t gone ahead with the advertisement in the absence of a favourable response in offline talks. Negotiations for short-term association were also on the table, but it was decided, to not go ahead.
“It would only be fitting that Indian cricket engages with prestigious and long-term partners rather than going for low-key deals,” a BCCI official said.
In the previous deal, BCCI was making over ₹1.5 crore per ICC match and ₹4.6 crore per match for a bilateral international. Although with time, the importance of ICC events has gone up in the scheme of things, a few crores for a single match are just a drop in the ocean for the cash-rich BCCI. It’s a hit they are willing to take.
Their recent five-year contract with Adidas and the now busy ICC calendar involving a white-ball world event every year gives the board hope that they will find the right partners in time before the October-November World Cup at home.
That said, it would be a rare sight to see Indian cricketers play in uncluttered outfits.
The ICC allows commercial slots only on the leading and non-leading arms for the WTC final whites. During the IPL, leading franchises like Mumbai Indians make more than ₹100 crore in a season from all sponsorship slots.
