Scout
Illustration: AI-generatedFor sponsors today
- The Hardik-Arshdeep swap now waits only on contracts and BCCI ratification.
- MI and PBKS partners should ask now how player appearances move to new names.
- Retention lists land on 17 November and trades stay open to about 9 December.
Today's news
Hardik-Arshdeep swap clears the players, waits on the BCCI (Franchise)
What happened: A PTI report on 7 November said Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings have agreed to swap Hardik Pandya for Arshdeep Singh, and Business Standard, citing Cricbuzz, wrote on 10 November that both players have now given their consent. Contracts still have to be exchanged and the BCCI has to ratify the deal, so neither team has announced it yet.
For sponsors: This has moved from talks to paperwork, so MI and PBKS partners should plan as if both teams will change a lead face for 2027. Ask your team now which names your player appearances and shoot days will move to once the BCCI signs off.
Source: Business Standard, with Business Today (PTI)
The question
Should an MI or PBKS sponsor follow the team or the player?
A shirt deal is signed with a team, but most of the creative around it is built on two or three players. This trade tests that split.
On paper, MI loses its captain and gains India's leading T20I wicket-taker. Punjab gains a star all-rounder but, according to the PTI report, keeps Shreyas Iyer as captain. Both teams change a lead face, and neither has to rebuild its whole story.
There are also reasons not to overreact. Hardik's three seasons back at MI brought two playoff misses, and he has had injury setbacks since last season. A star who is not on the field gives a sponsor fewer moments on screen, however famous he is. Arshdeep bowls at the death, when matches turn and the cameras stay on the field.
The team is the asset a sponsor holds for the full season. Players move. Since June, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav and Liam Livingstone have all changed teams by trade, the trading window is expected to stay open until about 9 December, and a second window opens after the 16 December auction. A brand that ties its 2027 plan to one name is betting on a squad list that is not final.
So the practical answer is to follow the team and rent the player. Keep shirt, ground and digital rights as the core of the deal. Treat player-led content as a flexible pool, with the named face confirmed only after the BCCI signs off and the 17 November retention lists are out. And if your fee was set partly on Hardik's pull at MI, or Punjab now asks more because of it, ask for 2026 delivery data on the team, not the name.