Owned by actress Preity Zinta and businessmen Ness Wadia, Karan Paul and Mohit Burman, the Kings XI Punjab is captained by cricket sensation Yuvraj Singh and coached by former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody.

The squad line-up includes a number of legendary players such as Brett Lee, one of the world’s fastest bowlers, Sri Lankan pair Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan, wicket keeper James Hopes and Durban-based Yusuf Abdulla.

Kings XI Punjab’s first match is against the Delhi Daredevils in Cape Town on  April 19.

Maurice Flanagan, Executive Vice Chairman, Emirates Airline and Group, said: “Emirates is a great supporter of global sporting events, and we are very excited to announce our partnership with the Kings XI Punjab team. With cricket being the number one sport in India, it was only natural for us to form a partnership with one of the leading teams in the Indian Premier League; a tournament that invokes such passion amongst the cricket fans all around the world”.

Flanagan added that “this three-year sponsorship commitment will allow Emirates to become closer to our customer base in one of the most important regions on our network.”

The IPL is the first of three significant sporting events taking place in South Africa over the next 18 months that Emirates is involved in – the other two being the FIFA Confederations Cup in June and next year’s FIFA World Cup

In addition to the title sponsorship of the Kings XI Punjab, Emirates is also an Official Partner of the ICC and sponsor of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and Referees.

It may be recalled that the IPL Season 2 matches had to look for South African venues prompted by security reasons. South Africa was earlier chosen to host the second edition of the Indian Premier League which was shifted out of India due to security apprehensions. The decision to hold the lucrative tournament was taken after a meeting between IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola. The tournament will be held between April 18 and May 24, a delay of about one week from the original schedule.

Hero Honda has said that the relocation of the tournament doesn’t stand to benefit his company and also the future of the Indian Premier League. The reason being said is that when an IPL team plays at home, it evokes a lot of fan and team following. Now with an overseas venue coming into play, the case will be totally different.

Hero Honda in fact looks at continued participation but the gain it can expect is going to be minimal However, it said that it was still happy that the event was at least taking place amid fears of a possible cancellation.

Meanwhile, IPL Season 2will begin with an opening ceremony at the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg. The stadium is also scheduled to host two semifinals.

The sponsorship of Bajaj Allianz has increased the number of fans of Rajasthan Royals. With the slogan “Halla Bol” more than 300,000 Super Agents and over 25,000 employees in over 1000 offices across 900+ towns all over India have joined as die hard fans to to cheer for their team.

To build team spirit & motivation of the T20 tournament for the coming financial year, Bajaj Allianz has begun its own internal program across 1000+ offices.

Rajasthan Royals is a mix of youth, experience and emerging talent which will provide strong competition and great enjoyment to the cricket fans, said Kamesh Goyal, Regional CEO Allianz & CEO Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance.

When the IPL starts on April 18, 1000+ offices of Bajaj Allianz will become ‘Fan Stations’ as they go about cheering and building support for the team.

Kingfisher will provide airline services to the players and the BCCI officials who take part in the tournament, according to the agreement. A statement from Kingfisher said, “There will be dedicated check-in counters, VIP lounge access, an exclusive ground handling team at all airports and a special helpline number for all air travel needs”.

Vijay Mallya has a long history of being associated with all kinds of sports activites. Mallya has been linked to tennis, formula 1, polo and this new announcement marks Mallya’s entry into the cricket arena.

Global media and production rights for the DLF IPL had already been bagged by  sports broadcaster Sony Max and World Sport Group. The co-sponsorship rights for the IPL Twenty 20 tournament had been bagged by Hero Honda.

Titled ‘Manoranjan Ka Baap’, the 75-second commercial is a tribute to the high-on-entertainment movies of the 80s and pitches IPL as the ultimate destination for TV entertainment. The commercial amplifies the expression ‘the Baap of all Entertainment’. The film revolves around a mother and her twin fatherless sons named Mano and Ranjan – . The family is constantly victimised and subjected to barbs by the entire village. Kab aayega tumhara baap? (When will your father come?) is a never-ending taunt. The twins keep retaliating that their father will definitely return one day. The narration builds to a climax with the woe-ridden woman contemplating ending her life and that is when the miracle occurs. Her children stop her just in time by screaming that their father has arrived. Cut to children dancing deliriously and kissing the TV set and the voice over announcing “Aagaya Manoranjan Ka Baap. DLF Indian Premier League. Sirf MAX par”

According to T Gangadhar, Vice President and Head of Marketing, MAX, “From a broadcast strategy perspective, the challenge was to find a unifier that binds the entire country – a lowest common denominator that is compelling enough to take on existing TV viewing habits. And that glue can only be our insatiable passion for wholesome entertainment. This is precisely why the DLF IPL broadcast has been positioned as the definitive and ultimate entertainment destination for those 44 days when the League is in progress.”

The film has been directed by Rajesh Krishnan of Soda Films. The campaign will be aired extensively on television – on SET Network channels as well as other General Entertainment, News, Music and Regional channels across India. The campaign will also run on Radio, Cinema, Outdoor and on the Internet. Max will also promote DLF IPL in 150 towns through on-ground activities.

The Indian Premier League will be telecast in North America, Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean by Willow TV who have acquired the rights for television, radio, broadband and internet.
SET and World Sports Group (WSG) won the IPL broadcast rights for $1.03 billion. Sony will telecast IPL matches in the Indian sub-continent and WSG will explore the international market.

As part of the Rs 106-crore deal, Kingfisher Airlines will get to display its brands on Umpires’ uniforms in all the IPL matches.

Lalit Modi, Chairman and Commissioner, DLF IPL said, “I am very pleased to have the country’s premier five star airline Kingfisher join us as the Umpire Partner in an exclusive five-year deal. Kingfisher Airlines has a long association with a variety of sports at both the domestic and international level including Tennis, Formula 1, Polo and now Cricket. Their decision bears testimony to the fact that the DLF IPL is here to stay and is set to carve out a distinct niche for itself in the international cricket calendar.”

The DLF IPL matches will start on April 18, 2008, and will run for 44 days. The first match will be played between the Shahrukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders and the UB Group’s Royal Challengers of Bangalore, at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore.

The DLF IPL will have eight franchises: ShahRukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders, Preity Zinta -Ness Wadia-owned Mohali, the Mumbai Indians, GMR’s Delhi Daredevils, UB Group’s The Royal Challengers of Bangalore, Indian Cements – Chennai Super Kings, Deccan Chronicle’s – Hyderabad Chargers and Emerging Media’s Jaipur Royals.

Each franchise will get to play seven matches at home. The final will be held in Mumbai.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajeev Shukla confirmed the deal saying, “Pepsi has been signed as the official drink sponsor of the upcoming IPL and the deal has been closed.”

PepsiCo has been associated with cricket, domestic and international, for a long while now. Pepsico is already a global sponsor of the International Cricket Council (ICC) till 2015 having pledged $60 million to it.

As of now, the main sponsor of IPL is DLF, which will shell out Rs 200 crore over the next five years. Hero Honda has extended its IPL sponsorship for five years.

IPL plans to acquire five other sponsors, from areas such as insurance, banking, telecom, automobile and retail.

The IPL Twenty20 tournament matches will start from April 18, 2008. The tournament will comprise 59 matches that will be played over 45 days.

Meanwhile, advertising rates for the IPL Twenty 20 tournament are soaring off the charts. SET Max, IPL’s official TV channel has completed 75% of its slot for rates that were prevalent during the last World Cup. SET Max is optimistic that it will collect Rs 300 crore in revenues for the IPL Twenty20 Tournament. It has already pencilled in commitments worth Rs 220 crore.

The presenting sponsor of the IPL Twenty20 tournament is Vodafone, which has shelled out Rs 32-35 crore. Four other co-sponsors include Coca Cola, Max New York, Hyundai and Godrej for a sum in the range of of Rs 18-25 crore.

Virender Sehwag (Captain)
Daniel Vettori
Mohammad Asif
Shoaib Malik
Dinesh Karthik
AB de Villiers
Farveez Maharoof
Tillakaratne Dilshan
Gautam Gambhir
Manoj Tiwary
Glenn McGrath
Rajat Bhatia
Shikhar Dhawan
Mithun Manhas
Mayank Tehlan
Pradeep Sangwan
Brett Geeves

GMR Sports, owner of the Delhi Daredevils team has announced the sponsors for its IPL team. Hero Honda will be the main sponsor for the upcoming Twenty:20 tournament, while Adidas has signed up as the team’s Official Kit Supplier. Vijay Mallya’s has a pie in the Delhi Daredevils team too – Kingfisher is the associate sponsor for the Delhi IPL team. Greg Shipperd, coach of Victoria state in Australia will be the coach, and his assistant David Sacker is the assistant-cum-trainer of the Delhi Daredevils.

Virender Sehwag, captain and icon player of the Delhi Daredevils is confident that he has a match-winning team on his hands.

The Delhi daredevils faced some disappointments too. Ashish Nehra, whom the team wanted, was taken by Mumbai Indians – Sehwag said that he was too expensive for Delhi Daredevils. Ishant Sharma, bowling hero of India’s CB Series tour down under, was snatched up by Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knightriders. Not a major setback, feels Virender Sehwag.

This is what Sehwag told the media while introducing the Delhi daredevils lineup: “Our team combination is good, it is a balanced side. We have very good batsmen, brilliant bowlers and excellent all-rounders.” Sehwag added that the Daredevils are a young side, and therefore he thinks that they are the best fielding side in the IPL tournament.

The daredevils team has eight international players — Glenn McGrath, Daniel Vettori, Farvez Maharoof, Tillekaratne Dilshan and Brett Geeves, Shoaib Malik, AB de Villiers, Mohammad Asif.

Eight international players, yes. But remember that only 4 international players will be allowed to play in a match. The team practise sessions however would be interesting with a bunch of local lads and myriad accents and an Australian coach. That goes for most of the IPL teams, I guess!

Delhi Daredevils will play their first IPL match against Rajasthan Royals at the Ferozeshah Kotla on April 19, 2008.

Our original daredevils post

The DLF IPL premier league’s associate sponsors are Pepsico India , Hyundai and Nokia, as Sony Entertainment Television aims to rake in1.7 billion rupees from the deal, media reports said.

Sony is also in talks with various corporates including ICICI, UB , Future Group, ITC , TVS and Hero Honda, hoping to rope in at least one more premier sponsor and six associate ones.

Sony and World Sports Group won the television rights by paying about 41 billion rupees, with Sony getting rights for Indian sub continent and the rest of the world going to World Sports Group.

The IPL begins on April 18 and will be held with a view on prime time television audience in India.