Team India dazzles in 'ultramarine' blue new jersey

With the sun shining brightly at the scenic Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy ADA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, the occasion could not have been more appropriate to unveil the team jersey as Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men dazzled and gave Australians the blues while fielding first.
The brighter, bolder jersey was to be unveiled in Kochi on October 17 but with the first ODI being a wash-out, the shade of blue came to light only today.

Someone quipped that Suresh Kalmadi, who had come under a lot of criticism during the organisational chaos of the just-concluded Commonwealth Games, had designed the outfit, while another said it seemed the usual jersey had been accidentally bleached.
In fact, the shade was so bold that it reminded of the yesteryear Robin Blue bleach that used to give an ultramarine colour which refuses to go away, remarked another.
Having seen the transition of Indian jersey colours over the years, an avid cricket follower said, "It looks like they accidentally bleached the old jerseys but decided to wear them anyway."

"I guess it's Kalmadi who has chosen these new jerseys for the Indian team," another spectator said, taking a dig at Kalmadi, about the jersey which has been made by apparel manufacturing giant Nike.

He further said, "Looks like it's Nike made in Ulhas Nagar."The new experimentation with the Team India colours, however, got some praise also."The blue is definitely more crisp. But it does not matter as long as they go to win the World Cup next year," another spectator said.

The new jersey is made entirely of recycled polyester, each one produced from up to eight recycled plastic bottles, according to Ravi Kallayil the business director-cricket Nike India Private Ltd.

The new ODI kit is made from 'DriFit Technology' -- for superior moisture management.
The India cricket jersey first came into the spotlight in 1992, during the World Cup in Australia. That jersey had a dark shade of blue with thin stripes of green and light blue as it came to the spotlight with the few matches of the tournament played under lights.
But after that, light blue or sky blue became Team India colours during the 1996 and 1999 World Cups.

In a return to the dark blue shade, Team India in 2009 unveiled their jersey with the tri-colour incorporated in the form of stripes.But now the tri-colour stripes are not so clearly visible.