and the Tiger which is the national animal of India. Before being nicknamed as Blue Tigers, the team was known as 'Bhangra Boys'. The old nickname came about during India's friendly match against English side West Bromwich Albion on July 26, 2000. The crowd consisting mostly of Indian or Indian origin fans created a great atmosphere with drums and dhols to cheer India until the final scoreline of 0–0. That night the term the 'Bhangra Boys' was born and over those three tours, it became India's nickname with which the fans could identify, especially in 2002 when India took on Jamaica in the Jamaica tour which was also named as the "Reggae Boyz vs the Bhangra Boys". Kit and colours The success of the India cricket team and field hockey teams in blue jerseys made the colour more prominent. The football team, however, has used some sort of shade of blue for decades. At the turn of the 21st century, India wore a sky blue shirt with black shorts and sky blue socks as their kit. In 2002, the All India Football Federation signed a deal with German manufacturer Adidas to produce the India kit. The first kit made by Adidas was all-white. After four years with Adidas, the AIFF signed an agreement for seven years with American company Nike on 27 February 2006. Nike's first kits for India were in darker blue while the away kit was changed from white to orange. For the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, in which India were participating, Nike designed India's kit using the same template it used for other national teams such as Brazil. In January 2013. it was announced that the AIFF's deal with Nike was extended for an extra five years. In September 2017, prior to the India U17 side's participation in the FIFA U-17 World Cup, Nike unveiled an all sky blue kit for the India senior and youth teams. A year later, on 17 December 2018, it was announced that Indian manufacturer SIX5SIX would replace Nike as India's kit maker. In becoming India's new kit makers, Six5Six also became the first manufacturer to pay for the rights to produce India kits, after both Nike and Adidas didn't pay. Six5Six unveiled their first jerseys for the team before the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, from which the home colour had a similar sky blue shade and the away colour was changed