The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) governing body has begun the hunt for a new lead sponsor for its national teams.

In an announcement yesterday (June 14), the BCCI said an invitation to tender (ITT) had been released and that it is searching for “bids from reputed entities.”

The governing body’s current lead sponsorship deal with educational technology firm Byju’s is set to expire at the end of this year, after the ICC Cricket World Cup in India in October and November. The tie-up covers front-of-shirt rights across the various national teams.

The ITT is open to bids from brands across all categories, apart from athlete leisure and sportswear, alcohol products, betting, cryptocurrency, real money gaming, and tobacco.

Betting and cryptocurrency brands are also banned from sponsoring teams in Indian domestic cricket’s Women’s Premier League.

The BCCI has said as well that any brand “likely to offend public morals such as, including but not limited to, pornography” will not be considered.

Companies wishing to purchase the tender documents will need to pay INR500,000 ($6,086) before a deadline of June 26.

The original tie-up between the BCCI and Byju’s was struck in 2019 and then renewed in a short-term extension in June last year.

Late last month, the BCCI struck a new kit supply deal with German sportswear heavyweight Adidas, covering the national teams through to 2028.

adidas is now providing kit for the men's, women’s, and under-19 national sides.

Adidas was first linked with a multi-year BCCI deal in February and replaced the Killer Jeans brand (run by Kewal Kiran Clothing), whose short-term contract, only struck in January, expired on May 31.

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