It has been a decade-long association already between the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) and sportswear apparel giants Nike. However, that association seems to have started getting sour.
The Indian Express has revealed that Rahul Johri, the CEO of the BCCI, has mentioned that the issue of Nike providing "sub-standard" kits lately have been raised in front of the Committee of Administrators (CoA).
BREAKING: Nike comes up with new set of kits now, another jersey launch awaits!
"It (Nike's clothing) has come up for discussion in last COA meeting and chairman of the CoA (Vinod Rai) took it very strongly," Johri has been quoted as saying by the publication.
"The team cannot have sub-standard kits and we will be engaging with Nike and he has asked to put our case strongly. We have to engage with them, we will have a meeting with them (Nike) next week and try to resolve it at earliest," he added.
Interestingly, the India cricket team jersey, released earlier this year by Nike, found affection from the likes of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Harmanpreet Kaur and a host of other Team India cricketers.
The 2017 India cricket team jersey has been referred to as the most innovative Team India kit ever and it is claimed that the members of Team India were consulted ahead of the manufacture of the kit.
Features of the India cricket team jersey 2017
- The new kit included an amazing feature termed as the '4-Dimensional Quickness'.
- The jersey provides multi-directional and multi-dimensional stretch for quickness; the feature is termed as 'Tuned Mobility'.
- The jersey has a 'Tuned Breathability' that regulates the temperature to keep the cricketers cool.
- There is a 'Zero Distractions' feature that minimises the distractions and maximizes the performance on the field.
Despite that, the report claims that apart from the BCCI, certain players of the India cricket team have also expressed concerns over Nike's offerings.
Quick facts about Nike's contract with the BCCI
When the association first began: 2006
Contract extended: 2016
Amount paid: Rs 370 crores
Current contract: Until September 30, 2020
What Nike pays to BCCI per match: Rs 87,34,000
