BCCI faces embarrassment as India set to play Asia Cup 2025 without jersey sponsor

The India National Cricket Team could walk onto the field without a jersey sponsor in the upcoming Asia Cup 2025, starting on September 9 in the UAE. Those iconic blue jerseys are likely to be without a brand logo for the first time in years.

This comes after the BCCI ended the sponsorship deal with Dream11, which was forced to pull out following the new Online Gaming Act. The timing couldn’t have been worse, as the BCCI has very little time to sign a jersey sponsor with the tournament beginning on September 9.

India set to play Asia Cup 2025 without jersey sponsor

An emergency Apex Council meeting, which was chaired by interim BCCI president Rajeev Shukla, discussed the issue on August 28. However, the board officials are confident of securing a long-term sponsor till the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027, but sources revealed that finalizing the deal before the upcoming continental tournament looks almost impossible.

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As reported by India Today, the India National Cricket Team, led by Suryakumar Yadav, is almost certain to play “without any jersey sponsor” in the upcoming Asia Cup 2025. This will be a very rare sight when the Indian stars sport the jersey without a sponsor.

However, behind the scenes, the BCCI is working hard to make sure they have a sponsor before the tournament, where the Men in Blue will kick off their campaign against the UAE on September 10 in Dubai, followed by the big game against Pakistan on September 14 at the same venue.

BCCI confirms Dream11 deal over

Meanwhile, the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has recently confirmed that the partnership with Dream11 has ended, and the board has already started the process of finding a new title sponsor for the Indian cricket teams.

Devajit Saikia was quoted as saying by PTI: “Our stand is very clear. With government regulations in place, the BCCI cannot continue its sponsorship relationship with Dream11 or any such other gaming company. Under the new restrictions, there is no scope, and we are facing a roadblock with Dream11.”

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Fantasy gaming giants forced out after new law

Recently, the BCCI has been hit by a big shock. The two fantasy gaming giants Dream11 and My11Circle were contributing around ₹1,000 crore to the BCCI through sponsorships of the national cricket team and the IPL. Dream11 alone had signed a massive ₹358 crore deal as India’s title sponsor till 2026.

But everything has changed after the new Online Gaming Act. The law clearly bans any promotion or advertisement of money-based online games, which means companies like Dream11 and My11Circle can no longer be part of Indian cricket in any way.

India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad set to travel to UAE without backups

Meanwhile, the BCCI has decided that none of the five standby players—Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, and Dhruv Jurel—will travel to Dubai with the main squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025 in the UAE.

Usually, standby players travel with the main squad, but this time, the board has taken a bold step by keeping them back in India. This means the 15-member squad picked for the tournament will have to manage without any immediate backup in Dubai.