Hockey India changes team jersey colour to saffron, President explains why

The primary jersey colour for the Indian men's and women's hockey teams is not the usual blue but has been changed to saffron or "kesariya". The President of Hockey India, Dilip Kumar Tirkey explained the decision and the choice was made due to visibility issues.

Indian hockey teams get a jersey colour change

Hockey India President Dilip Kumar Tirkey explained why the jersey colour of the Indian men's and women's hockey teams have changed from blue to saffron or orange, a decision that has led to a lot of debate and controversy.

The President spoke to the media and said, "So this time, the orange colour has been chosen. And yes, I accept that for many years, there was a legacy where Team India used to wear blue. We have played many tournaments, many important tournaments wearing blue...".

He went on to explain that this is not the first time the jersey colour had changed. In 2014, the team wore yellow coloured jersey whole in 2018, it was light blue.

Citing the reason behind this much talked about change, Dilip said, "Their suggestion was that on the field, the hockey turf is blue, and the players' playing kit was also blue. So technical visibility during play was affected because of that overlap. Somewhere, they were feeling that issue".

The jerseys were launched ahead of the FIH Men's and Women's Hockey World Cups

The orange jerseys were launched recently, weeks before the FIH Men's and Women's Hockey World Cups is set to kick off on August 14 and 15, 2026 respectively. The change was met with much criticism with former Indian hockey captain Viren Rasquinha speaking up against the choice as well.

However, Dilip Tirkey said that it was a technical decision to allow better visibility. He further added that there were two colour options as suggested by the team, yellow and orange with the latter emerging as the winner, given the colour is also part of the Indian national flag.

"If after or during the World Cup, the team or players do not feel comfortable with the orange colour--which was introduced based on their own request--we can definitely change it in the future to a colour that the team prefers," he said.

Following the controversy and criticism, Hockey India also put out a statement defending their choice and clarifying that the decision was "based on support staff & players' recommendations and detailed consultations with them".

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