How IPL jerseys have changed over the years

A picture story of the various kits of IPL teams since 2008

April 09, 2021 03:42 pm | Updated 03:45 pm IST

Since 2008, the Indian Premier League has had 13 franchises. Fans love to collect jerseys as memorabilia and wear them when their favourite teams are in town. Several teams have evolved their team kits across the seasons, with new kit manufacturers bringing in fresh ideas. Some franchises would have revamped their kits hoping it would bring luck needed to secure that elusive title. Some teams were satisfied with minor modifications, some found it necessary to rebrand themselves frequently through their kits.

Which one of these is your favourite?

We currently live in an age of multiple oversized sponsor logos on shirts, but back in 2008, Mumbai Indians’s jersey had none of those. Mirroring the Indian team’s sky blue colours, Adidas came out with a simplistic and sleek jersey with orange stripes on the side.

In subsequent seasons, the franchise shifted to a darker shade of blue, this time with gold everywhere in sight -- on the sides, shoulders, back, waist and even the player numbers and names. Short on party supplies? Don’t buy. Recycle. Put a bunch of jerseys in a shredder and you have all the confetti you would need.

There’s a comical tale of Kings XI Punjab captain Yuvraj Singh showing up for the toss in shorts because the team jerseys were delayed ahead of their first ever IPL match in 2008. The consignment arrived and there was a mad scramble in the dressing room minutes before the first ball. The original kit (above) had the player names and numbers in such an enormous font size that you could see it with your eyes shut. Thankfully that was rectified in the modified kit (below) that was to stay through the season.

Cricket’s version of Arsenal? Kings XI continue to keep their fans waiting for that big title. In 2009, Emirates came in as co-sponsors and kit sponsors Reebok ditched the 2008 design for red and silver.

Red has remained the mainstay for the franchise, now rechristened Punjab Kings. In 2014, they nearly clinched their first IPL title in this kit.

In 2008 alone the Delhi franchise, formerly known as the Daredevils, had a black and red kit.

Ashish Nehra was apparently demanding feedback from the umpire on Daredevils’s new kit in 2009, with oxford blue replacing black, and white stripes replacing black from their 2008 kit.

In the following seasons the team switched to lighter shades of blue, and new kit sponsors brought their own colourful ideas to the table. Orange, yellow and white in a peculiar design felt like unwelcome visitors on the left trouser.

With their daredevilry taking them nowhere near a title, it was time for a name change. Delhi Capitals brought with it a simpler blue jersey with dark blue sleeves.

The colours of Royal Challenge whisky -- red and golden yellow -- became Royal Challengers Bangalore’s primary colours in 2008. They were royally challenged in season 1, with people trolling owner Vijay Mallya for his “Test team”.

The blow-hot blow-cold RCB made several tweaks to their kit over the years, adding blue to the shoulders and sides. It brought out the best in “Universe Boss” Chris Gayle, who hit sixes for fun in his unbeaten 175 in 2013.

Have you wondered why not a single IPL franchise has picked green as its primary colour? RCB does it, once in a season, as part of its Go Green Initiative to raise awareness on recycling.

It was time to ditch blue and gold and introduce black to the kit in 2016. Three-time finalists RCB even changed their logo last year, presumably to change their luck, for which Mallya tweeted: “Great...but win the trophy !”

Hyderabad-based Deccan Chargers went with a beige and black combination in 2008. Their performances were as bland as the jerseys as they finished the season as wooden-spoon holders.

Would revamping the kit help? Perhaps it did. They snapped out of the blues, ironically, with a no-frills royal blue kit, to take the title the following season in South Africa.

The defunct Deccan Chargers made way for Sunrisers Hyderabad, under new owners Sun Network, from the 2013 season. But with the darker shade of orange set against an even darker grey, they may as well have called themselves sun-setters rather than sunrisers. 

With Puma making way for Tyka as kit sponsors, the “Orange Army” now had black and gold as secondary colours. Not for the first time, a kit revamp brought title success to a Hyderabad franchise, this time in 2016.

Rajasthan Royals adopted sapphire blue as their primary colour for several seasons, with a combination of gold and beige. The picture on top is from their stunning 2008 season.

Returning to the IPL after serving a two-year ban, the franchise decided the team should truly represent its home base Jaipur, the “pink city”. Ajinkya Rahane and Riyan Parag don’t appear too thrilled with the blue splashed across like an ink blot, but Shreyas Gopal differs.

“It was all yellow”: Chennai Super Kings adopted yellow and stuck by it through and through. Why change when your fans identify with it with so much affection? Sponsors have come and gone, but the jersey has remained predominantly the same.

Ahead of the 2021 season, the franchise had a surprise for its fans with a modified jersey with camouflage on the shoulders as a tribute to the armed forces and three stars to denote their three titles.

Remember April 18, 2008? Remember Kolkata Knight Riders’s gold helmets? Remember “Baz” McCullum’s blistering 158? The New Zealander must have this black and gold jersey preserved somewhere surely.

The black and gold combo didn’t stay too long as KKR adopted purple as their primary colour. Their kit has more or less remained consistent, with minor modifications. The switch to purple brought them title success in 2012 and 2014 (above). They were so delirious in their celebrations that nobody bothered to take offence to their owner Shah Rukh Khan sporting the rival team’s jersey that night.

Pune Warriors India entered the IPL in 2011 but lasted three seasons. They started out with a black and silver kit with the tricolor strips on the shoulders. From 2012, they changed to turquoise blue.

Pune welcomed its second franchise, Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS), in 2016 for just two seasons. Their kit was a colour palette, with six different colours. Imran Tahir scorches the ramp in a style that defines him.

Remember Kochi Tuskers Kerala? They lasted not more than one season, 2011. Their kit (above) was a combination of orange (to denote the colour of the cap given to the leading run-getter of the season) and purple (to denote the colour of the cap given to the highest wicket-taker). Unfortunately, none of their players ended the season with either of the caps. Gujarat Lions (below) were the other filler team alongside RPS in 2016-2017. Unlike RPS, there was nothing too imaginative about their colours. A rehashed Delhi Daredevils kit, you may call it.

We currently live in an age of multiple oversized sponsor logos on shirts, but back in 2008, Mumbai Indians’s jersey had none of those. Mirroring the Indian team’s sky blue colours, Adidas came out with a simplistic and sleek jersey with orange stripes on the side.
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