Muthoot Fincorp Steps In as BCCI Title Sponsor Ahead of West Indies Series
The BCCI has secured Muthoot Fincorp as the new title sponsor for India’s home cricket, with the two-season arrangement set to begin with the upcoming West Indies series on September 27.
Muthoot Fincorp will hold the title sponsorship rights through March 31, 2028. The agreement covers roughly 35 home international matches, including 10 Tests, 12 ODIs and 13 T20Is, according to Cricbuzz, which first reported the development.
The timing gives the Board of Control for Cricket in India a new title sponsor just days before the first match of the 2026-27 home international season.
The opening ODI between India and West Indies is scheduled for September 27 at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. The three-match ODI series will continue in Guwahati on September 30 and New Chandigarh on October 3 before the five-match T20I series begins on October 6.
Muthoot Fincorp takes over title rights
Muthoot Fincorp, a Kochi-based financial services company, succeeds IDFC First Bank as the title sponsor of India’s home bilateral cricket.
Cricbuzz reported that the new sponsorship is being referred to as “Blue Muthoot” and was negotiated around a base price of ₹4.85 crore per match. The publication also reported that the final price could be lower than the base figure, with the BCCI yet to make a formal announcement on the agreement at the time of its report.
A September 25 report by The Economic Times, however, said the BCCI had finalized an agreement worth up to about ₹150 crore, with a reported payout of ₹4.3 crore per match. That figure is therefore best treated as the latest reported commercial value rather than an amount formally confirmed in a BCCI announcement.
The difference between the reported base price and final per-match figure is significant. At ₹4.85 crore across the approximately 35 matches identified in the BCCI tender documents, the headline value would be higher than the roughly ₹150 crore figure reported by The Economic Times. The final commercial terms should therefore be considered subject to official confirmation.
Deal comes after a difficult sponsorship search
The agreement follows a period in which the BCCI struggled to attract a bidder for the title rights.
Cricbuzz reported earlier that the board had set August 13 as the deadline for bids under its Invitation to Tender. No bid meeting the BCCI’s expectations emerged, and the board subsequently entered discussions with potential sponsors.
The BCCI’s tender documents had set a reserve price of ₹4.85 crore for each chargeable match. The documents also estimated approximately 35 chargeable matches during the rights period. Those matches cover India’s senior men’s international home fixtures and exclude domestic matches, ICC and ACC events, and India’s senior women’s international matches for the purposes of the title-rights tender.
The previous title sponsor, IDFC First Bank, had been paying ₹4.2 crore per home match, according to Cricbuzz.
The search for a sponsor was taking place alongside a broader reshaping of the BCCI’s commercial partnership portfolio.
BCCI has already added three associate partners
Earlier in September, the BCCI announced Campa, SBI Life and ChatGPT as Associate Partners for India Home Cricket for a two-season period running through March 2028.
The board said those three partnerships had a combined value of more than ₹130 crore, representing a 44% increase over the previous cycle. The agreements also begin with India’s home series against West Indies.
The combination of the Muthoot Fincorp title sponsorship and the three associate partnerships gives the BCCI a substantially refreshed commercial lineup for its upcoming home calendar.
The 2026-27 season includes home series against West Indies, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe before Australia arrive for a five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy beginning in January 2027. The BCCI’s published schedule lists 22 international matches across 17 cities during the season.
West Indies series will mark the beginning
The Muthoot Fincorp arrangement is expected to become visible immediately when India begins their home campaign against West Indies.
The first ODI in Thiruvananthapuram will also have a regional connection: Muthoot Fincorp is based in Kerala, making the opening fixture the first match associated with the new sponsorship in the company’s home state. Cricbuzz reported that the partnership would take effect immediately and run until March 31, 2028.
India’s squad for the series was announced by the BCCI on September 16. Shubman Gill has been named ODI captain, with KL Rahul as vice-captain, while Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are also included in the ODI squad. Shreyas Iyer will captain the T20I side.
For the BCCI, the immediate task is therefore settled on the commercial side: the title sponsorship gap has been filled before the first home international of the season.
The exact final financial terms of the Muthoot Fincorp agreement remain the one major detail that awaits a formal BCCI announcement. Until then, figures reported by industry and media sources should be distinguished from officially released commercial terms.
