Cricket is not just about thrill, patriotism, and competitiveness. It is about fashion as well. Cricket fans in the ground, the cheer girls, opening and closing ceremonies, mini-concerts, the white cricket ball, and the stylish jerseys transformed the old fashioned colorless and slow-paced game into to a fast-paced and more exciting game.
The Cricket World Cup 2019 is in full swing these days. England claimed the title for the first time in history of ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) after a historic win on July 14th,2019.
As England lifted the cup, my fashion sense sparked out of nowhere. On the lines below, I have listed down the best cricketing kits of the world cup and their underlying fashion statement.
Read on for a fashion treat from the cricket world.
1. England (CWC 2019)
England brought back its retro color and design from the CWC 1992 to bring back golden memories of the past. They were among the hot favorites to win the cup. It was the closest encounter ever that they lost with just little margin of 22 runs.
But they are the champions now. And boy! They looked really fantastic holding the World Cup in those coolest retro kit. This is a trendy sky blue shirt with hues of blue color on the shoulder.
The dark blue color on the neck and arm-ends beautify the whole apparel design. The best part of the kit is its bright sky blue color fabric. Their embroidery digitzers deserve all the praises for making such a classic, royal logo on the jersey.
2. Bangladesh (CWC 2019)
Bangladesh’s recent world cup cricket kit went into the middle of controversy for a while, because they thought it was quite similar to Pakistan, their neighbors with a very similar green color kit. Bangladesh Cricket Board finally decided to modify their kits to include a red background color on the jersey to subdue the uproar.
Their cricket kit is a blend of light and dark green in which white and red are also added which make it look a little complicated. This is what happens when you try to put too many things in a kit design. But the white line artwork on the lower part of their shirt is surely noticeable. All in all, a fair design.
3. India (CWC 2019)
The Indian team has gone through a metamorphosis in the game from 1992 to 2019. From an average performer in major tournaments, they became the world champions. The consistent and strong comeback reaped benefits for them with a world cup win in 2011 which was their second title after 1983.
Their current kit reflects the legacy of those wins. A nice touch of their third flag color orange refers to their two world cup wins. Indian Cricket Board printed their world cup winning dates and other details on the neck labels. They also customized their logo with three stars on its head.
They have been wearing the color blue for so many years. This time too they experimented with the two shades of light and mid blue. It is nicely divided into two halves of the shirt and trouser. It is an ultimate design that reflects the true sense of aesthetics of the designer.
The fabric is pretty light and smooth to keep them agile in the field. Their former captain, M.S Dhoni says “Wearing it (the jersey) right now, it feels so comfortable like you’re not wearing anything at all. It doesn’t weigh you down.”
A side note: If you like Indian or any other team’s kit, you can have them too. All you have to do is either hit your local store or find a service provider who knows how to digitize a logo.
4. Pakistan (CWC 1992 and 1999)
Pakistan was a World Cup Winner in 1992 and runner up in 1999. Recently, they were called the underdogs of the game predominantly due to their poor performance in recent times.
According to cricket pundits, this team is loaded with talent but lacking in execution. They have beaten both the finalists of the CWC 2019. This speaks volumes about their mettle.
Both of their jerseys in the 1992 and 1999 world cups portray their nationalistic association with the color green.
In 1999, for example, they chose the two-toned green. A lime green which glowed in the day and was noticeable from a distance in the dark. The big green star on the front with a white logo on it does the required job.
Similarly, in 1992, they used the same lime green color. This time with a red, blue, green and white color stripes on the shoulder. I still don’t know why they overused the blue color in the kit. Anyways, they would not mind it, since they lifted their only World cup wearing this kit.
The kind of creativity shown in cricket kits has a message to the world. That is: Sports can also be used to move the fashion forward.
