Delhi High Court pulls up BCCI over naming IPL 2025 'Champak' robo dog after children's magazine

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been pulled up over naming the IPL 2025 robot dog 'Champak'. The popular children's magazine with the same name filed a trademark infringement suit against the board.

The magazine filed the suit in the Delhi High Court, accusing the BCCI of using its name. 'Champak' is an AI tool - a robotic dog, introduced by the board during the ongoing IPL 2025 season.

“This AI tool [robotic dog] has been named as Champak. The IPL has been going on. The product was introduced earlier but it was named later on April 23 purportedly based on fan voting,” said advocate Amit Gupta, who is representing the Delhi Press. (via Times Now)

While the Court asked how the use of the name was causing any harm to the publishers, Gupta said that the use was unauthorized.

"My magazine is known for animal characters. Let us take the product to be distinct but the very use is causing detriment. It is causing dilution. IPL is a commercial venture," he stated.

However, the Court, not completely convinced, has issued a notice in the case for another date.

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Rohit Sharma among BCCI's shortlist for Test and 'A' tour of England

India is set to tour England for a five-match Test series in June soon after the completion of the ongoing IPL 2025 season. According to The Times of India, Rohit Sharma is on the shortlist made by BCCI of 35 players who will be a part of the Test and 'A' tour of England.

The final teams are expected to be selected by the second week of May, according to the report. A BCCI source was quoted as saying:

“Rohit is most likely to travel as the board feels that one needs a strong captain through the series, which is likely to be as tough as the Australia tour. With regard to the middle-order, the team management has shown very little confidence in Sarfaraz Khan’s ability.

"Nair and Patidar are seasoned red-ball players and are in fine form. It is likely at least one of them will be in the India ‘A’ team. As for Iyer, he was dropped last year based on his poor returns in Test cricket. A final call is yet to be taken."

Apart from these names, young Sai Sudharsan is also being considered as the backup opener for the series.