From September onwards, Indian cricket team will have a new brand name on their jerseys. Chinese mobile-maker Oppo, the current brand on Indian jerseys will be replaced by Byju’s, the Edutech startup.

Why is this happening?

In March 2017, Oppo had won the rights for 5 years for Indian team sponsorship till March 2022 for a whopping amount of Rs. 1,079 crores, beating Vivo mobiles’ Rs. 768 crore bid. However, according to a Times of India report, Oppo has decided to exit this deal because it finds the value at which it acquired the rights in 2017 to be “extremely high” and “unsustainable”

For BCCI, there will be no loss as it will receive the same amount from Byju’s for the entire duration of the deal till March 31, 2022, said a BCCI source.

Oppo will be seen only till the end of the upcoming West Indies series. After South Africa’s tour of India in September, Byju’s will take over the jersey.

“Basically, what Oppo has done is cut its losses. They’ve reassigned the rights to Byju’s. They will pay Byju’s a minor amount to help make the full payment while Byju’s will pay BCCI. The board will continue to get what is due to it,” TOI’s sources added.

Founded by Kerala-based entrepreneur Byju Ravindran, Byju’s is valued at around Rs 38,000 crore after its latest funding.

Oppo’s winning bid in 2017 was a massive increase from previous rights that were held by Star India Pvt Ltd. Star had paid the BCCI Rs 1.92 crore per bilateral and Rs 61 lakh per ICC and Asia Cup game.

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