When you watch a cricket match, the uniforms are the first thing you notice. One team is in bright blue, another in green and gold, and a third in deep red. For a new fan, those colors can look random. They are not.
Most of the reasons are practical or traditional, and a few exist to support a cause. Our cricket culture and gear guide covers the equipment side of the sport. This guide focuses on the shirts players actually wear on the field.
Quick Answer
Cricket teams wear different jersey colors for three main reasons: tradition and national identity, practical rules that make the ball and the two teams easy to see, and commercial branding that a board or league must approve. Test cricket adds a fourth tradition, because players wear white or cream in the longer format.
Why Do Cricket Teams Wear Different Jersey Colors?
Start with the most practical reason. In a limited overs match, the ball is white. A pale shirt makes a white ball much harder to follow against a crowd, a boundary rope, or a shadow.
The Indian Premier League states this plainly in its 2026 clothing regulations. Each franchise is allowed to decide its own design, but the regulations tell franchises to limit the use of white and cream in playing clothing so the colors contrast with the ball.
That single rule explains a large part of what beginners find strange. Deep blue, bright red, dark green, black, and gold all work well against a white ball. Cream and pale grey do not.
The White Ball Decides Some Color Choices
It is worth pausing on this, because the same player looks very different depending on the format. The ball, not fashion, sets the basic limit.
- Test cricket: the ball is red, so pale clothing is easy to read and the tradition of white has continued.
- One day internationals: the ball is white, so teams wear strong, darker colors.
- T20 internationals: the ball is white, and the same contrast logic applies.
Because white balls are used across limited overs cricket, a cream shirt that works perfectly in a five day Test would be a poor choice in a one day match.
Test Cricket and the Tradition of White
Test cricket is the oldest international format, and its dress code is the most traditional. Teams have worn white or near white for more than a century.
You can still see the tradition in current kits. When the England and Wales Cricket Board unveiled its kits for 2026, it confirmed that the Test kit keeps its classic cream palette, while the short format kits look completely different. The England limited overs shirts use a red and blue design for T20 cricket and a blue design for one day cricket, both inspired by older color blocked England kits.
The practical side still shows through. The official ECB shop describes the current England Test shirt as brilliant white with a contrast navy blue crest. The white shirt is the tradition, and the navy detail is there so the crest stays visible.
Test teams still need to tell each other apart. This is why the two sides use different colored trim, bands, or sashes on otherwise white clothing. The ICC clothing rules make the same point about practice bibs, which must be a color that distinguishes them from the playing shirts.
National Symbols and Team Identity
After practicality comes identity. Many colors are tied to a flag, an animal, or a nickname, and the ICC has described these choices directly when teams unveiled their kits for the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
- The United States wore a stars and stripes design, described as exactly what you would expect from the country.
- Pakistan’s kit featured the markhor, the national animal of Pakistan.
- New Zealand’s design continued the identity of the Black Caps, with a black base and colored ferns.
- England used its three lions, and the West Indies used its famous maroon with a palm tree.
- The Netherlands returned to its traditional orange, and Australia wore its familiar green and gold combination.
This is why an English fan looks for three lions and a Pakistani fan looks for green. The colors are not decoration. They are a shortcut that lets a viewer identify a team instantly.
Identity also changes over time. Canada wore all red at the 2024 tournament and switched to a black and red strip for 2026. A team can redesign its colors without breaking any rule, as long as the new design is approved.
Sponsors, Logos, and Who Approves a Jersey
The third reason is commercial. A jersey carries sponsor logos, and both the ICC and the leagues tightly control where those logos can go.
The ICC Clothing and Equipment Regulations list the ICC’s own goals. One of them is protecting the sponsorship rights of the ICC and its member boards. Another is ensuring a consistent approach and treating every member board equally, so no one country gets an unfair advantage on the field of play.
The same regulations create real consequences. If a match official believes a player’s clothing breaks the rules, the official can stop the player from taking the field until the problem is fixed or covered. Logos that are not approved, and clothing that has been altered to look unprofessional, are both prohibited.
In the IPL, the approval step is spelled out. A franchise decides its own design, but the design has to be approved by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and the BCCI holds the final right of approval on color and design. Franchises also have to follow a clear limit on playing kit designs and send their designs in early, before the season starts.
Important
The specific rule about limiting white and cream comes from the IPL’s regulations for franchises. International teams follow the ICC Clothing and Equipment Regulations instead, which set their own requirements. The practical reason for avoiding pale colors still applies in any match played with a white ball.
How Many Kits Can a Team Use in One Season?
More than one, but not unlimited. In the IPL, each franchise is permitted to use a maximum of three different designs of playing clothing in a season, and each design has to be approved by the BCCI.
Players still need to be identifiable, so player numbers are normally kept the same across those designs. A player can ask to change a number, but only with approval.
Keeping a squad in matching clothing is another fixed rule. IPL regulations state that the colors and design of playing shirts, sweaters, headwear, and trousers must be uniform across all members of the same team. Practice bibs are the deliberate exception, since they must contrast with the playing shirts.
Jerseys That Stand for a Cause
Sometimes a team steps outside its normal colors, and the reason has nothing to do with contrast or sponsorship.
Why Royal Challengers Bengaluru wear green
Royal Challengers Bengaluru introduced a green jersey as part of a Green Initiative that the franchise says it launched in 2011. The team wears it for a home match each season, and the shirt is made from recycled materials.
According to the franchise, the initiative is a sustainability program focused on measurement, accountability, and fan participation. RCB describes itself as the only carbon neutral T20 franchise in the world and says it is working toward becoming carbon positive. A green kit is a visible reminder of that goal, not a change to the team’s normal red and black identity.
Why South Africa wear pink
Cricket South Africa explains Pink Day as the day the Proteas men dress in pink to support breast cancer awareness. The team first played in pink for this reason in 2013.
The match is held at the DP World Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, and proceeds go to the Breast Care Clinic at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital. Cricket South Africa reports that the Wanderers hosted 13 Pink ODIs, including two in 2023, and that the 15th edition of Pink Day took place in February 2026. The Pink ODI Fund is registered as a public benefit organisation that manages the donations.
So when you see those two kits, the color is a message. One is about the environment, and the other is about health.
Common Confusions About Team Jerseys
Beginners often mix up related ideas. These are the ones that come up most.
| Common belief | What is actually true |
|---|---|
| Every cricket team must wear the same colors | No. Each national board and league franchise sets its own colors, subject to approval and contrast rules. |
| A pale shirt is fine in every format | No. White and cream are avoided in white ball cricket so the ball stays visible. |
| The color tells you the playing position | No. Color identifies the team, not the role. A bowler and a batter can wear the same shirt color. |
| Test players can wear any color they like | No. Test dress is traditional, and the playing kit still has to follow the governing rules. |
| A special color means the team changed its identity | No. Colors used for an awareness campaign are usually a one match exception. |
| Players pick the kit colors themselves | No. The team and the board or league decide and approve the design. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all cricket teams have to wear the same color?
No. Each national cricket board and each league franchise chooses its own colors. The design still has to follow the relevant clothing regulations and receive approval, and it must contrast with the ball used in the match.
Why do Test cricketers wear white clothes?
White has been the traditional Test dress for more than a century, and the red ball is easy to see against it. Modern kits add colored trim or crests so the two teams remain easy to tell apart.
Why is it a problem to wear white in a white ball match?
A white ball can disappear against a pale shirt, especially near a crowd or a boundary rope. That is why IPL regulations tell franchises to limit white and cream in their playing clothing.
Can a cricket team change its jersey colors?
Yes. A team can redesign between seasons or during a break, as Canada did when it moved from all red to black and red. The new design must be approved and must still contrast with the ball.
Who approves a cricket team’s jersey?
International teams work under the ICC Clothing and Equipment Regulations. In the IPL, a franchise decides its own design but it must be approved by the BCCI, which holds the final right of approval on color and design.
Conclusion
Cricket jersey colors are not random. Pale colors are avoided when a white ball is in play, traditional formats keep their own dress code, national symbols make teams easy to recognize, sponsors and boards control the logos, and approved designs are checked every season.
Once you know those four reasons, a jersey stops being decoration. It becomes a rule, an identity, and sometimes a message.
Read More: Famous Jersey Numbers in Cricket: Why Dhoni’s 7, Kohli’s 18, and More
