Sahara to sponsor boys in blue

According to board officials, Air Sahara’s bid was the highest, next only to Idea Cellular who had offered Rs 286 crore. Other interested firms included Reliance Infocomm (Rs 257 crore), and Indian Oil Corp (Rs 256 crore). Auto major Hero Honda is said to have withdrawn at the last minute, sources said. BCCI had appointed two Australian Cricket board officials as observers during the entire bidding process.

Sahara won the rights to have the company logo on the chest and leading arm. That leaves the other arm and the kits, and bids for these are separate. BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi, who announced the new deal today, said that the board would name the kit sponsor on December 23 in Mumbai.

BCCI, under the stewardship of Sharad Pawar had earlier announced the unbunddling of various rights related to Indian Cricket. After the team sponsorship deals, the board is expected to float tenders for the telecast rights which include rights for Satellite, terrestrial, DTH and Radio rights. A seperate tender will be floated for awarding companies as the official media partner, official airline, and official hotel amongst others.

Air Sahara would be the sponsor for all of India’s matches at home and away but for ICC-backed tournaments like World Cup and Champions Trophy.