MPL Sports, the athleisure wear and sports merchandise brand of popular e-sports platform Mobile Premier League, has successfully passed on an opportunity of featuring as the chest logo of Indian cricket team’s jersey following reports of the same happening ahead of India’s international winter season starting from tomorrow.
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MPL, who had signed a three-year deal with the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) to be the official kit sponsor and merchandise partner of the Indian men’s, women’s and junior teams, have withdrawn a year in advance due to unknown reasons.
Having started with a retro jersey before India’s tour of Australia 2020-21, MPL’s tenure saw them modifying the jerseys of Indian cricket team before ICC World Test Championship final 2021, ICC T20 World Cup 2021, Asia Cup 2022 and ICC T20 World Cup 2022.
New kit sponsor for Indian cricket team
Not the first sponsor to do so lately, MPL has followed a path set by Paytm after it transferred BCCI’s title rights of domestic and international cricket to Mastercard Inc. last year. Speculations are rife that even Byju’s is looking to make an exit from the existing jersey sponsorship deal.
KKCL (Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited) has come onboard as a replacement for MPL Sports till December 2023. While an official announcement is being awaited, India spinner Yuzvendra Chahal shared a photo from a pre-series photo shoot across his social media platforms to confirm the change.
As per the MPL-BCCI deal, MPL Sports were bound to pay INR 3 crore per year to the BCCI as the merchandising partner in addition to spending an opulent INR 65 lakh per match.
In the absence of an official announcement, amount which KKCL will be paying to the BCCI remains under wraps for now. Having said that, it is noteworthy that American multinational corporation Nike used to pay INR 85 lakh per match to the BCCI during its time before COVID-19 pandemic.
Killer brand owner
Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited, one of the India’s largest apparel manufacturers, is owned by Kewalchand P. Jain. The Mumbai-based company owns renowned brands such as Killer, Easies, LawmanPg3 and Integriti and Desibelle.
KKCL was one of the main sponsors during the recently concluded India’s tour of Bangladesh with multiple hoardings of both Killer and Lawman Pg3 prevalent across both Shere Bangla National Stadium and Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
