The game of cricket has evolved immensely in the last four decades or so. The advent and development of the shorter formats have totally changed the way the game is followed by the supporters and played by the stars.
With time, the outfits of cricketers have also changed drastically from those days when cricketers only used to wear white. The limited-overs cricket first brought the colourful jerseys into the sport and since then it has been a constant part of it.
The inception of the Indian Premier League gained overwhelming media attention over the world. Team jerseys are just as important in a league based format, especially in the glitzy world of the IPL.
In the last eight editions of the cash-rich tournament, team jerseys have gone through a number of significant changes which have brought some contrasting results to some teams. As the ninth edition of IPL is nearing its final chapter, we take a look at the evolution of the team jerseys in the history of the tournament.
Here we take a look at the five teams from the history of the competition which had very different end results after remodelling their team jerseys.
Kolkata Knight Riders
The Kolkata-based franchise which is co-owned by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan is one of the most famous teams in the tournament. In the first two editions of the tournament, the knights flaunted a black outfit with golden lettering and stripes.
After the John Buchanan coached team failed to qualify for the semi-finals for two consecutive years, the owners opted to change the colour combination of the jersey to bring the necessary luck to their title challenge.
In the third edition of the tournament, the Knights chose to go with a different colour instead of black. The emergence of purple as the primary colour has been extremely successful for KKR as they went on to win two IPL titles with that in 2012 and 2014.
There haven't been many changes made in the appearances of the jersey but slight changes have been a regular feature in every edition.
Delhi Daredevils
The Delhi Daredevils has started their journey in IPL with black as their primary colour with red stripes and the finished as one of the semi-finalists in the inaugural edition.
However, they failed to win the semi-final match and crashed out of the tournament. In the next season, their owners opted to change the look of the jersey drastically.
Like Kolkata, Delhi also eliminated black from their jersey and opted for navy blue in its place. The second edition of IPL was played in the rainbow nation of South Africa where the Delhi boys finished at the top of the points but again failed to make it to the final.
Since then the Delhi-based team have stuck with the blue and red jersey with some minor changes in every edition of the cash-rich tournament. However, they only managed to qualify for the playoffs in one more season.
Mumbai Indians
The Mumbai-based franchise has made the most drastic changes in their jersey among all the currently active IPL teams. In the first two editions, Mumbai opted to flaunt a jersey with both dark and light shades of blue with white lettering and orange stripes.
Following the disastrous campaigns in the first two seasons where the finished fifth and seventh respectively among eight teams the team not only changed the colours but also changed the pattern of the jersey.
The lighter shade of blue was eliminated from the jersey as well as the white letterings and orange stripes and it was replaced by shining gold. The change in their jersey seemed to have changed their fortune as well as they have won the title twice in 2013 and in 2015.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
The Royal Challengers from Bangalore started the IPL wearing the colours of the Karnataka flag. The Rahul Dravid-led team flaunted red as their primary colour with yellow stripes as the finished second-last in the points table.
The following year when the tournament was held in South Africa the team choose to make a few changes in the jersey. While red remained as the predominant colour yellow was replaced by gold with black lettering as earlier.
The change of colour proved to be a fortune turner as they finished the tournament as runner-ups. RCB has been the one of the most stylish teams when it comes to their jerseys.
Since 2011, the Vijay Mallya-owned franchise wears green jersey in a match every tournament to promote their “Go Green” initiative, a move to create awareness about global warming. Their green kit has also generated massive attention since they wear it for the first time.
RCB also included the colour blue to their jersey before replacing both blue and gold with black just before the star of this year’s tournament. They also became the first IPL team to launch two different kits for home and away matches. As the Virat Kohli-led team will play this year’s final on 29 May at their home ground it’s will be interesting to see whether they can win the first title with their new jersey or not.
Kings XI Punjab
The Kings XI Punjab started their irregular campaign wearing a grey and red mixed jersey. The colours were designed in a faded manner with red collars. The Yuvraj Singh-led side finished the tournament as semi-finalists after finishing second on the points table.
However, the fans showed their disappointment regarding the team jersey which prompted a change in design. In 2009, when the IPL was hosted in the rainbow nation the Punjab-based side flaunted a jersey which resembled of English giants Arsenal’s home kit. Though they didn’t qualify for the semi-finals but played some good cricket.
However, the Kings XI haven't lifted the trophy yet. Red and grey have stayed in their jersey throughout the nine editions of the IPL. In 2014, their owners made some changes in the design as red dominated the shirt along with grey trousers.
Those changes in the jersey proved to be lucky for the Preity Zinta-owned franchise as they reached their only final in IPL till date. Although they lost the final against KKR in a well-fought final, it was a superb campaign for them.
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