The Indian cricket team jersey has become the most high-risk investment for brands.
Geopolitics and government regulations have turned the logo on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s chests into a potential jinx, with Dream11’s recent exit from its ₹3.58-billion Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) jersey deal underlining the risk.
What, when, who, where, how? Here’s a recap.
Wills (1993–2002): Puff, puff, gone
Back in the ’90s, smoking in public wasn’t a taboo. Even buses had smokers, and cricket had Wills across the chest. That was the time the BCCI roped in Imperial Tobacco Company’s cigarette brand Wills as the sponsor for the Indian jersey.
Early 2000s. Debate raged over regulations because of smoking’s health hazards. And the government brought in the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) in 2003. ITC had quietly stubbed out its sponsorship of the Indian cricket team a year earlier.
Sahara (2001–2013): Royals to ruins
Enter Subrata Roy, the man who hobnobbed with filmstars, cricketers, and politicians with elan.
For 12 years, his Sahara group splashed its name on the India team jersey.
Sourav Ganguly waved the shirt from the Lord’s balcony and M.S. Dhoni lifted the World Cup in it. But by 2010, markets regulator Sebi began asking uncomfortable questions. By 2012, irregularities in the financial dealing of Roy and the Sahara Group were flagged; turned out, Roy was running a Ponzi scam.
The deal ended in 2013. The next year, Roy was in Tihar Jail.
Star India (2014–2017): Brief star turn
Star India’s stint was a three-year coffee break. Already ruling the airwaves with IPL telecast rights, it took the jersey too. But then Disney bought Star; organisational churn, restructuring followed. The jersey sponsorship was dropped.
Oppo (2017–2019): Call drop
The Chinese handset maker arrived with a ₹1,079-crore cheque to beat Vivo to the jersey rights. The Indian cricket jersey was the gateway to the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market.
But geopolitics bowled a bouncer. Anti-China sentiment, border skirmishes, and enforcement raids made Oppo’s presence untenable.
A five-year deal collapsed in two.
BYJU’S (2019–2023): Course collapse
Edtech company BYJU’s brought ambition. Its logo adorned the jerseys during some of India’s biggest cricketing moments.
Then the edtech bubble burst. Corporate mismanagement, auditor resignations, investor issues and students logging off. By 2023, the brand didn’t survive to continue its associations.
Dream11 (2023–present): Fantasy turned nightmare
Dream11, valued at $8 billion, took over in mid-2023. The fantasy gaming platform had previously sponsored the IPL. For Rs 350 crore across three years. And then Dream11 planted its logo at the heart of Indian sport.
But a year later, the script flipped. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, passed in Parliament this week, has banned real-money gaming outright. And the law has made Dream11’s continued association with Team India untenable.