Sri Lanka Vs India 2017: Nike Gives New Training Kit To Indian Team
Aug 23, 2017 at 12:18 PM
After the players expressed their displeasure over the substandard clothing, Team India kit sponsors Nike has provided the players with new training kits in a hurry. According to media reports, the sports apparel company, on Tuesday (August 22), visited the team’s optional practice session at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium to sort out the issue.
The Indian Express has reported the likes of MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey and Kuldeep Yadav were asked to try out the new training kits in order. The players were then asked for their feedback about the new gear.
“The players will use the new set here and also during the limited-overs home series against Australia in September-October. Based on their feedback, the Nike will decide on its official launch,” the source was quoted as saying by the daily.
Earlier, the news outlet had claimed that the players had told the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) about the poor quality of the kits. Consequently, the two top BCCI employees — Chief Executive Officer Rahul Johri and General Manager game development Ratnakar Shetty- took the issue to the Committee of Administrators.
“It (Nike’s clothing) has come up for discussion in last CoA meeting and chairman CoA (Vinod Rai) took it very strongly. 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,” Johri was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
Nike has been associated with the Indian team since 2006 when it became the official kit sponsor. Last year, Nike paid nearly Rs 370 crores to renew the sponsorship of Team India which will run till 2020. Their contract runs from 1 Jan 2016 to 30 September 2020 and they pay Rs 87,34,000 per match.
Meanwhile, the Men in Blue are currently leading the five-match series against Sri Lanka by 1-0 after the thumping nine-wicket win in the first ODI at Dambulla. The second match will be played at Pallekele on Thursday (August 24).