| MUMBAI:
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) players, Brett Lee, Sreesanth, Kumar Sangakkara and Ranadeb
Bose together with club co-owner, Preity Zinta, connected with fans from around
the world and young previously disadvantaged South African cricket players during
an event yesterday in Cape Town, South Africa which launched the club's mobile
fan club with mig33, the leading global mobile community. The partnership will
give KXIP fans the chance to engage directly with each other and KXIP players
all via mobile phone. The
event took place in the Nyanga Cricket Stadium in Nyanga Township, just outside
Cape Town in South Africa. As one of the oldest townships in the area this community
is racked by poverty and has little access to sporting facilities. Over fifty
young players from two local schools received the opportunity of a life time when
they took on KXIP players in the nets. The KXIP players coached each player giving
each youngster the chance to show off their batting and bowling skills. The players
also fielded questions from the young cricketers who were eager to question their
heroes about the Indian Premier League and cricket in general. Based on these
questions a young player was selected by the team to walk with their captain for
toss during their inaugural match against the Delhi Daredevils on Sunday. At
the stadium the KXIP players as well as Preity Zinta engaged in a live chat in
the mig33 Cricket FanZone. After joining the mobile fan club, KXIP fans can "watch"
matches live with other fans on their mobile phones in dedicated chat rooms complete
with live ball-by-ball commentary, receive important news updates from the team,
meet new friends and buy official KXIP virtual merchandise in the mig33 content
store. Members also get access to the KXIP Chat Stadium and chat live with their
cricket heroes. During
the live chat Preity Zinta fielded a range of questions from who she considers
her best player to whether she would ever make a movie about cricket. Commenting
on her experience Preity Zinta says "It was amazing to connect with so many
fans from around the world and be so close to them while sitting in South Africa.
I hope that our fans will use this platform to ignite passion and support the
team during the IPL. I look forward to this association with mig33 and to engaging
in future chats with our fans." Kings
XI Punjab fans in India can sign up to the Cricket FanZone by sending "KXIP"
to 57575 or by downloading mig33 directly from their phone's browser (m.mig33.com/kxip).
mig33 works on over 2,000 different mobile phone models. | 