The final, lethal blow to Byju’s did not originate from New York hedge funds, Delaware bankruptcy courts, or offshore equity syndicates. It arrived from India’s wealthiest sports administration over an unpaid marketing sponsorship invoice. In late 2023, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)—the governing body of Indian cricket—served formal statutory legal notices to Think & Learn Pvt. Ltd. demanding the immediate settlement of ₹158 crore (~$19 million) in outstanding contractual dues. The liability stemmed from Byju’s high-profile brand sponsorship of the Indian national cricket team jerseys, a marketing spectacle that had once been celebrated as the ultimate symbol of the startup’s global cultural dominance.
When repeated corporate promises and delayed payment schedules produced no settlement checks, the BCCI escalated the dispute to the judicial nuclear option. In July 2024, the cricket board filed a formal corporate insolvency petition against Think & Learn Pvt. Ltd. before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Bengaluru under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). On July 16, 2024, the NCLT bench issued a landmark order admitting the petition and formally initiating the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against the parent company.
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