Behind the Scenes: Team India Takes Over the World of Cricket
With cricket at the very heart of Indian culture, take a look as some of the greatest moments delivered by our 3-Stripes team around this year’s Cricket World Cup.
In India, everyone is born into cricket. Cricket is not a sport, it’s a religion. It is one of the biggest cultural drivers of the nation and there’s a passion, commitment, and intensity shared by 1.4 billion cricket lovers in India. Hence, it was only fitting when world’s most loved sports brand invested in the nation’s most loved sport, signing partnership with The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) earlier this year.
As the General Manager of team India at adidas, it was an especially proud moment for me and the entire team. This partnership cemented the 3-Stripes’ position as one of the most credible sports brands and launched our team on a mission to present cricket to the world, with high quality performance products that resonate with cricket fans across the globe. But with just a 10-month countdown to the Men’s Cricket World Cup and four months until the ICC Men’s World Test Championships – we had our work cut out.
Our biggest and fastest partnership
This partnership is by far the biggest and the most challenging one for team India, so I want to give a special call out to our Sourcing, Brand, Legal and Finance teams across the globe, who within 60-75 days brought this to life for our customers.
Cricketing superstar Rohit Sharma rocking the 3-Stripe look.
The teams came together to form the largest cross-functional team adidas India has ever seen. The love for cricket was always evident, but also was the #impossibelisnothing attitude which led the team to create, design, and produce the products in an unprecedented time and met with the toughest quality standards.
Their efforts truly reflected upon adidas’ Values of Courage, Ownership, Innovation, and Teamplay. Yes, there were a lot of sleepless nights, hardships, roadblocks, and milestones, but all of this was worthwhile when we got to see the 3-Stripes on the Indian team. The emotion is incomparable.
The jersey has been a huge hit and so was the campaign ‘Own Your Stripes’– where Indian players and fans answered a seemingly simple question – “What does the Indian cricket team jersey mean to you?”.
"The campaign is based on a simple insight that while it’s hard to describe your feelings for the team India jersey, when you wear it as a player or a fan, you feel just one thing: Impossible Is Nothing."
Since the launch we have broken some of our own records with the sellout of the Indian jerseys across all formats – Test, One Day International, and T20. And the jersey campaign broke some records as well, ranking #1 on adidas’ YouTube channel and getting the highest number of video plays on adidas’ Instagram.
To mark the biggest event of the year, we recently launched the ‘3 Ka Dream’ campaign; The collective dream for the cricket loving nation filled with the rebellious optimism to win the 3rd ODI world cup on their home turf. Launched on September 20, the campaign has got the nation chanting a new anthem, rooting for Team India to fulfil the ‘3 Ka Dream’!
Bringing the Indian jersey to life
The iconic Team India jersey, was designed by Aaquib Wani, an experiential designer & art director showcasing the rich heritage and craftsmanship of India. It represents the raw power, fierce beauty, and undeniable strength of India’s national animal – the tiger.
The intricate design adorning the fabric was weaved using the traditional ikat pattern, bringing to life the tiger’s stripes and capturing the awe-inspiring aura of Indian cricket. This wasn’t it, for the first time ever, the authentic T20, Test & ODI jerseys have been made with 100% recycled materials and features adidas’ HEAT.RDY technology. While the jerseys have been a definite hit, the training kits and travel gear have also seen unpreceded love from our cricket fans across the world.
Making the 3 Ka Dream a reality?
As the games continue, India has won all the three matches, pushing cricket fever to an all-time high. But this is still just the beginning; we wish the Indian team all the very best for the rest of the competition. With the support of billions of fans, we hope to get the cup home, making the 3 Ka Dream come true!
The jerseys are now available across adidas stores and at www.adidas.co.in in India.
