Byju’s to replace Oppo as India sponsor

Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Oppo is set to be replaced as India’s national cricket team shirt sponsor by Byju’s, an online tutoring and educational platform.

Oppo will be dislodged following India’s upcoming series against the West Indies, which will conclude at the start of September, according to the Times of India.

The newspaper added that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will receive the same amount under the deal with Byju’s, with Oppo paying a fee to exit the arrangement two-and-a-half years early after admitting that the five-year agreement it struck in March 2017 was unsustainable.

Oppo had agreed to pay the BCCI a total of $162m (£130m/$145m) over the course of the five-year deal, according to the ESPNCricinfo news website.

The total was double the reserve price set by the BCCI and significantly more than the second-highest bid at the time, lodged by another mobile phone manufacturer, Vivo, as well as the previous sponsor, media company Star, which did not submit a bid.

The deal was agreed two weeks ago, with Byju’s name set to appear on the shirts from India’s tour of South Africa in September.