ICC Champions Trophy: Indian Dairy Giant Amul Becomes The Prime Sponsor of The New Zealand Cricket Team

‘Amul’ is a household name in India, as it manufactures a wide range of dairy products catering to the needs of the large Indian Population.The Indian dairy giant will be New Zealand cricket team’s prime sponsor in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy to be played in England. The mega event commences on June 1.

However this is not the first time that the?Gujarat based dairy giant is associating with a sports team. Previously, Amul had sponsored Netherlands’ cricket team in the World Cup and the Sauber F1 team at the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in 2011. Amul had also associated itself with the ICC Cricket World Cup, the London Olympics in 2012 and the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Amul’s logo will appear on?the sleeves of New Zealand Cricket teams playing jerseys as well as on the training kits throughout the tournament. New Zealand’s star players?Tim Southee, Colin de Grandhomme and Trent Boult who are currently in India for the IPL unveiled the official jersey with Amul’s logo along with?R.S. Sodhi, managing director of Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation-(GCMMF markets the Amul brand and is the apex body of all district dairy unions of Gujarat). Speaking at a press conference during the event R.S. Sodhi expressed his excitement over the sponsorship deal,

?Amul will be the principal sponsors of the New Zealand cricket team for the upcoming Champions Trophy,? Sodhi said.

Amul has an annual sales turn over of?US $ 4.2 billion and is the largest producer of milk in Asia. This move from Amul possibly seems to aim at increasing its popularity among the young masses.

“We are excited about being associated with New Zealand cricket for the first time and Amul welcomes the Blackcaps to the family” Sodhi added. “We, on behalf of New Zealand Cricket are very excited. We are looking towards at least a couple of months and hopefully a long term partnership,? said James Wear, the commercial director of New Zealand Cricket expressing his delight about the new tie up.

Such a venture is double edged for it has both rights and wrongs to be looked upon.

The good part being that it will garner enhanced international recognition to Amul. Champions Trophy will be viewed by millions cricket of fans across the globe thus, their presence on the Blackcaps jersey will earn them international viewer recognition and publicity. This is indeed beneficial for a company like Amul which aims at expanding its business globally and entering into new ventures and investments.

What such a tie up does is that it strengthens the bonds between the two nations, both pertaining to cricket and otherwise. When at one end Cricket Australia is offering its star players a three year contract and taking a stand against them participating in the IPL, the New Zealand Cricket authorities have expressed their desires to encourage their players to participate in such top notch tournaments such as the IPL. Supporting the boards sentiment James Wear said;?. ?We think IPL is a top league. The New Zealand Cricket encourages its players to play in the IPL,?.

Though this team seems to be a win-win situation for Amul, New Zealand Cricket and the cricketing ties between the two nations, it has its cons too. The sad part being that such a well established Indian brand is unable to sponsor the national team. It is ironical that when the Kiwi’s will sport jerseys bearing India based Amul’s logo, the Indian Cricketers will dawn jerseys displaying the logo of?their new title sponsor OPPO Mobiles, which is a Chinese company.

Though the move will garner good promotion to the Indian giant which would in turn create more opportunities for India as a whole, it is rather disheartening and disappointing to see such a brand miss out on a tie up with the national team.