The Indian cricket team has been one of the most prominent sides in cricket’s history including being two-time ICC ODI World champions and various accolades in ICC tournaments.
It all began with Kapil Dev leading India to its first World Cup victory in 1983. This was an iconic moment in India’s history as it motivated a lot of cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Vangipurapu Venkata Sai (VVS) Laxman, Anil Kumble, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and many more to take up cricket and represent the nation at the ultimate stage possible.
Ganguly’s captaincy is regarded as a pivotal moment in Indian cricket, as it helped India emerge as a force to reckon with. Dada’s captaincy was followed by MSD, under the wicket-keeper batter’s leadership, India won their second ODI World Cup in 2011, maiden T20 World Cup in 2007, and the Champions Trophy in 2013.
Indians have been fond of the sport of cricket for the past multiple decades and with the cricket team growing stronger with every passing year, it’s grabbing more and more eyeballs. Just like on the field, off the field on the business pitch, as well, Indian cricket has also done significantly.
Brands have always been keen to partner up with the BCCI in any capacity, not only due to its excessive audience but also because the Indian cricket setup also consists of multiple modern-day greats and the brands also get to leverage their fan-following.
Taking into consideration the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, the Men in Blue, so far, had a robust commencement to the competition as they have won three fixtures on the trot.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has always managed to acquire and retain some of the renowned brands as sponsors for the Indian team due to the exposure it has been able to provide. Without further adieu, let’s take a look at the Indian team’s sponsor for the ongoing summit cricket tournament:
Team sponsor: Dream11
Dream11, the online fantasy sports platform, allows users to create a team with real athletes for any forthcoming game in which they compete against other users for significant financial rewards.
Back in July 2023, Dream11 was revealed as the team’s sponsor for three years.
Kit Sponsor: adidas
adidas, a German sports apparel entity, was formed in 1949 and specializes in athletic clothes and footwear.
adidas’ association with the BCCI covers India’s men’s, women’s, and U-19 teams. The sportswear manufacturer is in charge of developing and manufacturing jerseys (for all formats), kits, and other merchandise. The partnership will last through March 2028.
Official partners: SBI Life
SBI Life Insurance is a life insurance business based in India that was created by SBI and BNP Paribas Cardif, a French financial institution. SBI and BNP Paribas Cardif each possess 0.55% and 0.22%, respectively, of the company’s equity.
In September 2023, BCCI and SBI agreed to a three-year agreement that was unveiled during the India-Australia ODI series.
Title sponsor: IDFC First Bank
IDFC FIRST Bank was formed by the amalgamation of the banking section of the Infrastructure Development Financing Company and the Indian non-bank financial organization, Capital First.
The goal of the bank is to employ IDFC Bank’s network, first-rate technical stack, high-quality digital banking, and solid rural footprint to apply the tried-and-true Capital First model of supporting small enterprises and individuals on a banking platform.
According to reports, throughout its association with the BCCI, IDFC First Bank will be paying INR 4.2 crore per international match for the rights, a 40 lakh increase from the previous price of INR 3.8 crore.