Indiantelevision.com Team

(9 February 2010 6:40 pm)

MUMBAI: Telecom company Idea Cellular has announced a multi-year sponsorship agreement with the current Indian Premier League (IPL) Champions, The Deccan Chargers of Hyderabad.

Idea Cellular, the pan-India mobile operator, will be the Principal Partner of Deccan Chargers, starting with the third edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 Cricket Tournament, scheduled to start from March 2010.

Idea claims to have over six million subscribers in the state of Andhra Pradesh. During the upcoming IPL 3 T-20 Tournament, all 27 players of team Deccan Chargers, along with the coach and support staff, will be seen sporting the Idea logo on the front of their jersey and trousers.

Team captain Adam Gilchrist, ace batsmen Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma, pace bowler Chaminda Vaas, and several other leading international players such as Ryan Harris, Dwyane Smith, Scott Styris, Kemar Roach and Fidel Edwards will wear Brand IDEA during all their sporting action during the forthcoming T20 championship.

Idea Cellular CMO Pradeep Shrivastava said, “The Cricket fever is rising and IPL 3 will only add more excitement to it, further electrifying the cricket frenzy nation. Going with our essential brand promise of bringing champion ideas through the power of mobility, we have partnered with the Champions of IPL, to offer cricket entertainment by the Deccan Chargers to our 60 million subscribers across the country."

Idea will launch a range of value added services on Voice, SMS and WAP portal, for 60 million subscribers, across the country to bring them closer to the Deccan Chargers. Idea subscribers will get a chance to win tickets for the matches, autographed merchandise, participate in Meet & Greet with the players, download special player messages and many more interactions with Team Deccan Chargers.

Deccan Chargers Sporting Ventures COO Dinesh Wadhwa said, “IPL is the most followed sporting event in the country. The success of Deccan Chargers in the last tournament has further increased the fan-following of the team. Our partnership with Idea Cellular will take the team to a higher plane of reach and visibility by connecting with millions of mobile consumers in the country. We hope to have a long-term, mutually beneficial association with Idea.”

Donning the Idea logo, Team Deccan Chargers will make its first outing at the opening match of IPL T20 tournament in Mumbai against Kolkata Knight Riders on 12 March at 8 pm.