Vikram Limaye, member of Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) Committee of Administrators, is expected to initiate the Invitation to Tender (ITT) process for the four-year "team sponsorship" for the Indian team as Star India's term ends after the four Test series against Australia.
Star India, which won the bid in December 2013, has been paying the BCCI ₹1.92 crore per match. The previous sponsor, Sahara India, paid ₹3.34 crore per match towards the end of its 13-year run.
Star India's commitment to the BCCI for the International Cricket Council (ICC) events has been around ₹60 lakh since the teams were allowed to display the sponsor's logo in front of their jerseys.
Star India's deal covered the ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2015 and the ICC Twenty20 in India 2016.
The BCCI uses the Star India logo for its under-19 and women teams as well.
Presently the BCCI's sponsors are: Star India (team sponsor), STAR Sports (broadcaster), Paytm (title sponsor), Nike (kit sponsor), Pepsi, Hyundai and Jana (official partners). The BCCI-IPL's title sponsor is smart phone maker, Vivo.
Market experts believe that Paytm — which won the title sponsorship for ₹203 crore (at ₹2.42 crore per match) for four years from 2015 to 2019 — and LTE mobile operator, Reliance Jio, among others, could show interest in acquiring the rights.
"The BCCI is already late to start the tender process. The new deal will cover the ICC Champions Trophy to be played in England in June and the ICC Cricket World Cup in England in 2019," said a BCCI official.
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