Rajasthan Royals secure Expo 2020 Dubai as principal sponsor for upcoming IPL

Indian Premier League (IPL) team Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday announced their sponsorship with Expo 2020 Dubai for the upcoming edition of the T20 tournament.

The one-year deal will see the next world expo appear on the front of the Rajasthan Royals' jersey as principal sponsor.

Expo 2020 will take place from October 20, 2020, to April 10, 2021, and it will be the first world expo to be staged in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region (MEASA).

The expo is set to welcome an unprecedented 192 participating countries and 25 million visits from across the globe over a period of 173 days. The sub-themes of Expo 2020 are opportunity, mobility, and sustainability.

Ranjit Barthakur, Executive Chairman, Rajasthan Royals, said: "We are delighted to announce this landmark deal with Expo 2020 to become the principal sponsor of our special franchise. The World Expo is one of the most anticipated and innovative events in history, and it gives me great joy to link up with what will be the biggest event ever in held the Arab world".

"We are looking forward to having a very successful association throughout the 13th season of the IPL. The tournament has always provided fans in India with numerous reasons to celebrate, and we are hoping that through this crucial sponsorship, we can encourage them to be a part of the Expo 2020 as well," he added.

In the IPL auction last year, Rajasthan Royals bought Robin Uthappa, Jaydev Unadkat, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kartik Tyagi, Tom Curran, Andrew Tye, Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Oshane Thomas, Anirudha Ashok Joshi, Akash Singh.

Before the auction, they had retained key players like Jos Buttler, Steve Smith, and Ben Stokes.