From its past, the Tata Group has established vigorous engagement with several activities and most specifically with the sport of cricket. This legacy goes as far back as its founder, Jamshedji Tata, who is known to have been a cricket fanatic. Such values of sportsmanship were observed in the subsequent years culminating in the construction of the world class sports complex in 1991, Jamshedpur.
This legacy, of all great things and better yet including the prominence, Ratan Tata who lived for a short period of time would have the age of 86 in less than twenty years of time was instrumental in reinforcing this drama during his service at the helm of Tata Sons. In as much as he put his energies on enhancing sports and erecting the sports base structures as in camps for this and many other games JRD complex.
This support included the sponsorship of Narain Karthikeyan, the first Indian racing driver in Formula One, which eventually saw the Tata Group becoming the primary sponsor for two of the biggest T20 cricket leagues in the world.
The involvement of the Tata Group in cricket sponsorship for that purpose became more serious with the due signing of the Titan cup sponsorship in 1996. This one day triangular tournament of India Australia and South Africa was a fantastic commercial success with cricketing cosmos in sachin tendulkar chasing the cup on behalf of india.
But the sanguineness of the late nineties was sullied by the 2000 match fixing scandal. This infamous episode of the history of Indian cricket saw several big names take the blame for the underworld. It became such a tricky situation that at that time, the Tata Group under the leadership of Ratan Tata saw it fit to exit cricket.
It was quite timely for the Tata Group to return to cricket sponsorship. When Indian Premier League (IPL) title sponsor Vivo, a Chinese mobile phone company, pulled out in 2020 due to the ongoing political strife between the two countries, Tata took advantage of the situation. A new dawn was on the horizon as Tata went on to clinch a record four years deal worth ₹2500 crore in the month of January 2024, the most expensive title sponsorship in the league’s history.
Turning the successful men’s IPL into English, the BCCI in 2023 rolled out the Women’s Premier League WPL. Consistent with the goal of extending sports to both genders, Tata was awarded the title sponsorship of WPL up to 2027
This year in the month of May, two of India’s most revered individuals, Ratan Tata and the master blaster Mr. Sachin Tendulkar, held a riveting interaction. Tendulkar posted on his social media revealing that they spoke about their mutual interest in cars, love for nature, animals, and welfare of people.
Tata Group’s longtime connection with sports, especially cricket can be said is due to the deep-rooted conviction, that sport, has the power to motivate and unite people. There is no question that Ratan Tata’s vision and strategy has played a significant role in the evolution of sports in India and that his legacy will continue to prosper.
