Brands
IPL 2021: BKT Tires to sponsor 7 teams as official tire partner
MUMBAI: Balkrishna Industries has entered into sponsorship agreements with seven teams in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. BKT Tires will be the official tire partner for Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals in the league. The season marks BKT’s first collaboration with Royal Challengers Bangalore, and the second consecutive partnership with the remaining six teams, following IPL 2020.
Balkrishna Industries joint managing director Rajiv Poddar said, “We are elated to be a part of this huge cricketing event that is known to bind our entire nation, for yet another season, after key-collaborations with the biggest global leagues. As the premier league returns this year to India, we are sure that this will be a time of growing greatly together, as we all unite to celebrate one of the most popular sporting events of our times.”
Indian multinational group Balkrishna Industries Ltd (BKT Tires) is a global player in the off-highway tire market. However, the tie-up with IPL is not its first partnership with sports leagues. The company has been a known supporter and follower of sporting events all over the world, courtesy its associations with a variety of games, be it cricket, football, or kabaddi.
It has been the official and exclusive tire manufacturer for American motor show Monster Jam since 2014 and has also been the title sponsor of several European football competitions.
In India, the tire brand had a partnership with eight out of twelve teams of the Pro Kabaddi League in the 2019 season. IMG Reliance is the exclusive sports consulting agency for BKT in India.
Brands
MS Dhoni joins Cars24’s Crashfree India as Goodwill Ambassador
Cricketing legend lends his voice to the fight against road fatalities in India.
MUMBAI: MS Dhoni has traded his cricket whites for a new kind of captaincy, one that aims to save lives on India’s roads. The former India captain has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Crashfree India, Cars24’s national road safety initiative. The move brings one of the country’s most trusted and disciplined public figures to a cause that desperately needs both credibility and urgency.
India continues to record the highest number of traffic fatalities globally. In 2024 alone, 1,80,000 people lost their lives on Indian roads, one every three minutes. The country has roughly 1% of the world’s vehicles but accounts for 11 per cent of global road deaths. Shockingly, 66 per cent of those killed were between 18 and 34 years old, the most productive age group, and nearly 10,000 were school students. Seven in ten fatalities were linked to overspeeding.
Dhoni, known for his calm judgment under pressure, did not mince words when speaking about the issue. “A vehicle gives you freedom, but it also gives you responsibility,” he said. “On our roads, too many people still see safety as a rule to follow only when someone is watching. That mindset has cost us far too much.”
He added: “We already know what is going wrong. We know how many lives are being lost. What we need now is not more excuses. We need more responsibility, more discipline, and more respect for life.”
For Cars24, the association goes beyond a celebrity endorsement. Founder and CEO Vikram Chopra described Dhoni’s involvement as a game-changer: “His understanding of Indian roads is grounded in lived experience. He holds us to a higher standard and his involvement challenges us to push this mission further.”
Crashfree India aims to shift the national conversation on road safety from reaction to prevention, from accepting deaths as routine to treating them as the urgent failure they are. With Dhoni on board, the initiative gains a powerful, trusted voice that transcends statistics and connects directly with millions of Indians.
In a country where dangerous driving is too often mistaken for confidence, Dhoni’s message is refreshingly clear: true strength lies in control, discipline, and respect for life. When one of India’s most respected captains decides to lead this fight, the conversation suddenly becomes much harder to ignore.
The roads just got a new captain. And this time, the goal is not to win a trophy but to save lives.
