By Monica Chadha BBC News, Mumbai

The new kit has created much confusion

The international sports firm, Nike, has issued a clarification after Indian cricket players earlier this week displayed colourful new kits.

Newspapers covering the launch reported that the kits would be used in the World Cup, which begins next month.

Nike bosses issued a statement saying that the new strip was only for One Day Internationals (ODIs) not run by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The jersey launched on Tuesday had a sponsor's name prominently printed.

Embarrassment

According to ICC rules, no team is allowed to display a sponsor's name on its kit when playing an ICC match or tournament.

The clarification was something of an embarrassment for Nike, which had summoned the cream of Indian cricket to show off the shirts.

Fans do not care what they wear, as long as they win

Captain Rahul Dravid and batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were widely photographed wearing the new kit, which newspapers reported would be used in the World Cup.

But following a statement from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that only ICC-approved shirts would be worn at the tournament, Nike officials were forced to issue a statement.

"The new jersey launch is the ODI kit for any forthcoming non ICC matches," it said.

"What the Indian team will be wearing for the World Cup will be according to ICC stipulations."

Different positioning

BCCI official Ratnakar Shetty told the BBC that it was not a question of the ICC "rejecting" the jerseys unveiled by Nike.

He said it was simply that the shirts being displayed were not the ones the Indian team will wear during the World Cup.

"The ICC has its own rules regarding position of logos on the team jersey and it has already approved the one to be worn by the Indian team," Mr Shetty said.

"The material will be the same, only the logo positioning will be different."

Nike said that the new kit was 15% lighter than previous outfits, and was also capable of keeping body temperatures down to comfortable levels.

A marginally different kit will be used for the World Cup

Mr Shetty said what was launched by Nike is an ODI jersey, usually meant for bilateral tours and merchandising.

ICC spokesman Brian Murgatroyd told the BBC that it had sent an e-mail to the BCCI, confirming that the jerseys were not the official uniform of the Indian cricket team for the World Cup tournament in March.

The confusion, according to one journalist who attended the press conference, arose because none of the officials present at the launch clarified this point to the media.

"Nike unveils the new jersey just before the World Cup, you have the Indian cricket team members wearing it with BCCI officials also standing there on stage, it was logical to assume that this was the official uniform," he said.

Nike is the official kit sponsor for the Indian cricket team and signed a contract with BCCI worth $40m over five years in 2005.