On Tuesday, India defeated Nepal 2-0 to script a history-making seventh straight win in international matches. It was the first time an Indian team had won three consecutive matches to start a calendar year off, but certain sections of the national team fans were left a little dissatisfied, even at the end of another victory for the Blue Tigers.
American apparel and sports accessories giant Nike has been involved with the Indian national team over the past ten years, being the kit suppliers for the Blue Tigers. The multinational conglomerate's contribution to Indian football was recognised yesterday at the All India Football Federation (AIFF) awards night yesterday for its long-term contribution to Indian football. However, Nike's new kit for the national team hasn't been that well received, although the kit's light blue tones and a minimalistic design looked neat with the new AIFF logo.
That being said, the new kit will find its place among the multitude of kits the Blue Tigers have worn until now, but whether it goes down as one of the all-time best remains to be seen. Here is a look at how the Indian national football team's jersey has changed its face over the years.
#1 Pre-21st century
India doesn't make much noise as a footballing nation, hence there is little to no record of the Blue Tigers achieving notable success on the pitch. In the 20th century, apart from the 1951 and 1962 Asian Games where they won gold medals, the Indian national football team barely created ripples as regards capturing the imagination of a billion Indian people like the way the nation's cricket team did in the aftermath of the 1983 Cricket World Cup.
Consequently, footages of the Indian football team during the halcyon days of PK Banerjee, Sailen Manna, Shyam Thapa, Sheoo Mewalal are either very hard to find or grainy to such an extent that recognising the players becomes a taxing job. The national team played in their traditional blue in the time before sponsors started rolling out contracts for national teams kits.
#2 2000-2002
India played in a sky blue kit in the years preceding their first kit deal with adidas and had quite a few memorable wins during this time to boot. The Blue Tigers defeated a strong UAE outfit in a qualifier for the 2002 World Cup in Korea, Japan and also lifted the LG Cup in Vietnam under Stephen Constantine. Those wins were two of the best results the national team have had in the recent past, and it came before the advent of money in the Indian football scene when India started inviting sponsors for its national team's kits.
#3 2002-2005
In 2002, India signed a deal with German sports giant adidas for the national team's kit, with the first adidas kit for the Blue Tigers being an all-white strip. It all changed two years later when India started sporting a striped shirt, all blue of course. The stripes were a combination of a darker shade of blue with a lighter background tone of blue. However, India's poor performances under Constantine led to the Englishman's sacking and also led to a new kit sponsor for the national team in 2006.
#4 2006
In 2006, India sealed a deal with Nike for the national team's kits and the two parties haven't looked back since. Nike made a simplistic kit in 2006 with a light blue shirt and white short. There was a little shade of white on the shirt as well.
#5 2007
The following season, Nike experimented with the Indian kit once again by going a bit darker with the blue colour. The blue shirt now contained a vertical sash, while the shorts remained white. Nike also came up with an inventive design for the away kit, going away from the bland white away kits the Blue Tigers had been used to sporting in the past. A reddish colour shirt with a blue short and shades of blue on the red shirt was the away kit design for the Indian national football team until Nike effected another change for the 2007-08 season. India won the 2007 Nehru Cup.
#6 2008
With constant managerial upheavals a thing of the past, Bob Houghton's Blue Tigers wore all blue for the first time in many years. The away kit also featured a simple design with both the shirt and short having an orange look about it. India won the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup under Houghton's watch and qualified for the AFC Asian Cup 2011.
#7 2009
The 2009-10 Nike kit was a throwback to the 2006-07 kit but the blue colour got a bit darker this time out. The Blue Tigers won the Nehru Cup in 2009 wearing their new kit, thereby winning the trophy for the second consecutive time. A couple of the current Indian team stars like Sunil Chhetri and Subrata Pal came of age during this time, sporting this kit.
#8 2010-2013
2010 brought about another new shirt from Nike and this was to be worn for India's first Asian Cup appearance in 27 years in 2011. This kit had a different template from all the previous Nike kits and had a template similar to big national teams like Brazil and the Netherlands. This kit was plain blue with an orange strip at the end of the sleeves. The Blue Tigers didn't fare too well in the Asian Cup sporting this kit, losing all their group stage matches before being knocked out.
#9 2013-2015
Nike experimented with horizontal stripes for the first time in 2013. That, however, coincided with one poor performance after another for the Blue Tigers on the pitch under the management of Wim Koevermans. It was an all-blue kit with horizontal dark blue stripes the highlight. India, though, lost the final of the 2013 SAFF Championship against Afghanistan wearing this kit.
#10 2015-2017
This blue kit with orange detailing witnessed some of India's biggest successes on the pitch as Constantine got reappointed in 2015. It also coincided with the Blue Tigers’ SAFF Championship win in 2016 but also saw them bow out of contention for qualifying for the 2018 World Cup after finishing at the bottom of their qualification group that comprised Asian big hitters like Iran and Oman apart from Guam and Turkmenistan.
