Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 6 : The 94th Annual General Meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will take place on September 28 this year at the board's headquarters in Mumbai, as per board's sources.
The meeting will be held at 11:30 AM IST and will feature elections for all posts and some business calls, the sources added.
Notably, Team India is likely to play the Asia Cup without any lead sponsor.
Earlier in August, fantasy sports platform Dream11 parted ways with the Indian cricket team as its lead sponsor, following the Online Gaming Bill being passed in the Parliament last week. Saikia confirmed the development, citing the Online Gaming Bill as the reason.
In 2023, the BCCI announced a deal with Dream11 as the lead sponsor for Team India. Dream11 replaced Byju's, whose contract ended in March that year, and had signed the agreement with BCCI for a period of three years.
Expressing his views on termination with Dream 11, the BCCI secretary toldon Saturday, "As the team's sponsorship is concerned, regarding the jersey of the Indian team, we had the contract till March 2026. So with Dream 11, we had a three-year contract, which was going to be over by March 2026. But because of the new law, which has come into place, we have to abruptly cut their contract period. They are no longer part of the BCCI's team sponsorship deal. We have six months left with them, and thereafter, we have another two to three years tenure."
Team India is likely to play the upcoming Asia Cup without a lead sponsor on their shirts following Dream 11's withdrawal from its deal with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) last month, reported ESPNCricinfo.
On Tuesday, the BCCI kick-started the process of gaining a new sponsor as they released an invitation for expression of interest for the lead sponsorship rights for the national team.
The last date for parties to purchase this invitation of interest is September 12, and the bid submission deadline is September 16. The Asia Cup will kick off on September 9 and conclude on September 28. Following the Indian government's passage of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill last month, which prohibits real-money gaming, Team India needed a new sponsor, as the aforementioned form of gaming was Dream 11's main business. Following this development, Dream11 communicated to the BCCI that it would have to pull out of the deal, which had an exit clause in place to account for such government regulations. Dream11's contract was until 2026 and was worth 44 million USD (Rs 358 crore approximately), as per ESPNCricinfo.
Previously, OPPO, a mobile phone company, had withdrawn from the contract three years prior to its scheduled end, in 2019. The education technology company Byju's filled the space before Dream 11's successful bid for a three-year bid in 2023.
In its invitation for expression of interest for team sponsor, BCCI also specified that brands related to alcohol, betting or gambling services, cryptocurrency, online money gaming, tobacco brands, or any product or service likely to "offend public morals, such as, including but not limited to, pornography" were ineligible to submit a bid. India will kick off their campaign against the UAE on September 10, while the high-voltage game against Pakistan is scheduled for September 14, with both fixtures set to be played in Dubai. India will play their final group stage fixture against Oman on September 19 in Abu Dhabi.
After the group stage, the tournament will proceed to the Super 4, where the top two teams from each group will qualify. If India finishes at the top of Group A, then all of their Super 4 matches will be held in Dubai. If India finishes second, then one of their Super 4 clashes will be held in Abu Dhabi, and the remaining two will be held in Dubai. The Super 4 stage will run from September 20 to 26. Dubai will host the final, which is scheduled for September 28.
Team India squad for Asia Cup: Surya Kumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh
Reserve players: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
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