Team India, has announced a new sponsorship deal with Killer Jeans, a brand owned by the Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited (KKCL). This news comes as the team prepares to face Sri Lanka in the first T20I at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday, December 3. The sponsorship deal with Killer Jeans replaces the previous agreement with the Mobile Premier League (MPL).
Fantastic five 😎
— Yuzvendra Chahal (@yuzi_chahal) January 2, 2023
All set for the T20I series 🇮🇳#TeamIndia | #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/pAWq28wkF7
According to reports, MPL has decided to transfer the sponsorship rights to KKCL and end its own deal, which had one year remaining. The transfer was requested by MPL sports in an email sent to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on December 2, 2022. MPL had signed a three-year deal with the BCCI in November 2020, set to end on December 31, 2023. However, the BCCI has asked MPL to continue the sponsorship until March 2023.
The announcement of the new sponsorship deal was made apparent when a few of the Indian players, including Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar and Ruturaj Gaikwad, were pictured wearing the India jersey with the Killer brand logo on it. The image was posted by Chahal on his social media channels ahead of the upcoming home white-ball series against Sri Lanka.
The reason for MPL’s withdrawal from the sponsorship deal is currently unclear, as the BCCI had previously warned against the transfer of sponsorship rights to other brands until March of this year during an Apex council meeting. This news follows the transfer of domestic rights by one of the BCCI’s main sponsors, Paytm, to Mastercard. There are also reports that edtech company BYJU’S wishes to end its sponsorship ties with the BCCI before the end of their contractual deal.
