Sahara Group, the bid telecom giants Bharti Airtel and Reliance to bag Team India backing again. They have won backing rights to a staggering price of Rs 3.34 crore per match. The agreement will carry on until 31 December 2013.
According to sources in the Indian cricket board (BCCI), the two groups have submitted eligibility documents and the security deposit on Saturday.
Your bid will be obtainable on Monday and then BCCI's marketing committee will decide on the new sponsor for Team India.
Sources said Sahara will bid only for the Indian team, while Bharti will bid for the Indian team (base price of Rs 2.5 crore per match), India-A team (base price: RS 25 lakh per game), under-19 teams (base price: RS 25 lakh per game) and women teams (base price: RS 10 lakh per match).
Bharti, however, seems to have a problem at hand. If it wins the bid, it will not show his Airtel logo under the ICC events because of a conflict of interest - Reliance is one of the ICC sponsors.
Reliance contract with the ICC ends in 2015, while the Indian team's logo backing expires 31 December 2014. Over the next three and half years, the Indian team to play in three tournaments ICC - 2011 World Cup, T20 Championship in 2012 and 2013 Champions Trophy.
But BCCI officials were quick to clarify.
"If there is a conflict of interest, Bharti will have to use the logo for any other product from the stable of ICC events," a top BCCI bureaucrat told Toi.
