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XtraTime Web Desk: Ahead of the announcement of the title sponsor of the upcoming 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) in UAE next month, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev seems to be out of the race. The Indian FMCG brand has made a U-Turn on pitching for the sponsorship on Tuesday.

Refuting the claim that Patanjali has made a bid for IPL title sponsorship at Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar, Ramdev told HT “It is too early to talk about it as Patanjali will only come to the forefront (for IPL title sponsorship) if other Indian corporate houses don’t make any bid for the IPL title sponsorship”.

As reported earlier, Tata Sons looks to be the frontrunner to bag the title sponsorship. It is the biggest home-grown brand and will only add to the value of IPL. Besides Tata Sons, Byju’s, Reliance Jio, Dream11 and Unacademy have submitted the Expression of Interest. The final announcement of the IPL 2020 Title Sponsor will be made on August 18.
BCCI had clearly mentioned in the IPL 2020’s Invitation for Expression of Interest, that IPL Sponsorship will not only be awarded to the highest bidder but it will also depend on other relevant factors.

According to the BCCI release, “It is clarified that BCCI shall not be obliged to award the Rights to the third party which indicates willingness to pay the highest fees in the course of discussions/ negotiations with BCCI after submitting an EOI. BCCI’s decision in this regard will also depend on a number of other relevant factors, including but not limited to, the manner in which the third party intends to exploit the Rights and the potential impact of the same on brand IPL as also the fan/ viewer experience, which will be examined/ evaluated by BCCI in the course of discussions/ negotiations with interested third parties who submit an EOI”.
Chinese mobile company VIVO pulled out of the title sponsorship following the nationwide backlash due to the cross border tensions in Indo-Chinese border of Ladakh recently.