India’s biggest two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero MotoCorp, who inked a record sponsorship deal of $15 million with Mumbai Indians in 2011 pulled out of it with one year still left on the contract.

Hero who had signed the biggest deal in IPL in 2011 did this so that they can focus more on the upcoming Hockey tournaments. But Hero Motocorp management denied this and in a statement to Times of India they said, “We have been associated with cricket for over two decades, and it is not correct to say that we are now moving away from cricket. We at Hero MotoCorp are engaged in the promotion of several sports including golf, hockey, soccer etc. Our decision not to renew our central contract with IPL and with IPL team Mumbai Indians does not in any way dilute our commitment to cricket as a sport.”

Earlier Airtel withdrew from the Champions League T20 in 2011, DLF also did not renew its title sponsorship with IPL and now Hero also pulling out. This has raised some serious concerns about the future of the T20 format and its decreasing viewership. Brand IPL needs to rethink its sponsorship strategy once again so that the golden days of IPL shall come back soon.