Tag: Kolkata Knight Riders

IPL 2025 to begin with Kolkata-Bengaluru clash

MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India has announced the schedule for the Tata Indian Premier League 2025, which will run from 22 March to 25 May.

The 74-match tournament will be played across 13 venues, featuring defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening fixture at Eden Gardens.

The season includes 12 double-headers, with afternoon matches starting at 15:30 IST and evening games at 19:30 IST. The first double-header on 23 March will see Sunrisers Hyderabad face Rajasthan Royals, followed by a clash between five-time champions Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.

Three teams will split their home games across two venues: Delhi Capitals between Visakhapatnam and New Delhi, Rajasthan Royals between Guwahati and Jaipur, and Punjab Kings between New Chandigarh and Dharamsala.

The playoffs will be held in Hyderabad and Kolkata, with the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium hosting Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator on 20 and 21 May respectively. Eden Gardens will stage Qualifier 2 on 23 May, followed by the final on 25 May.

The detailed schedule of the Tata IPL 2025 can be accessed by clicking HERE.

(PICTURE COURTESY BCCI)

February 17, 2025
RR Kabel powers up KKR partnership in a high-voltage comeback

MUMBAI: Cricket and connections go hand in hand quite literally this season, as RR Kabel recharges its partnership with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as a principal sponsor. The leading wires, cables, and consumer electricals brand has inked a multi-year deal, returning for a second innings with KKR after its initial collaboration in 2021. With branding set to feature on the right chest of all KKR team kits, RR Kabel aims to spark greater brand recognition, particularly in Eastern India, while riding the wave of cricket’s unmatched popularity.

For RR Kabel, the partnership isn’t just about visibility, it’s about powering the spirit of resilience, ambition, and excellence, much like the ethos of the three-time IPL champions. RR Global director Kirti Kabra, highlighted the synergy, stating, “Cricket is where passion, energy, and performance come alive values that align perfectly with RR Kabel. KKR embodies resilience and ambition, making them the ideal partner for us. This collaboration isn’t just a sponsorship; it’s about being part of something that excites and unites millions.”

KKR CEO Venky Mysore welcomed RR Kabel back, saying, “Their continued association reflects the strong synergy between our values and vision. We look forward to strengthening this partnership and creating a lasting impact both on and off the field.”

As KKR gears up for another thrilling IPL season, RR Kabel’s high-voltage branding push ensures that its presence will be felt beyond the stadium, reaching millions of cricket fans worldwide. With this dynamic partnership, RR Kabel is set to illuminate the cricketing stage, proving once again that the right connections both in sport and industry make all the difference.

February 10, 2025
IPL 2025 auction: A day of big spending

MUMBAI: Surprises galore! That’s what the day one of Tata IPL 2025 Mega Auction/player draft in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia threw up yesterday with some players being bought for astounding prices and some going unsold. Overall, the managements of the 10 teams spent Rs 467.5 crore, purchasing 72 players, of which 24 players were international players.

Amongst the biggest eyeopeners was the Rs 27 crore sticker price that Lucknow Super Giants paid to acquire the swashbuckling Rishabh Pant, making him the most expensive cricketer in the league’s history. Earlier, Punjab Kings coughed up Rs 26.75 crore for Shreyas Iyer breaking the Rs 24.75 crore record set for Mitchell Starc by Kolkata Knight Riders in 2024.

Kolkata Knight Riders also almost broke the bank by shoveling Rs 23.75 crore for all arounder Venkatesh Iyer. Leggie Yuzvendra Chahal became the most expensive Indian spinner ever in IPL as Punjab Kings picked him for Rs 18 crore. Pacer Arshdeep Singh who was the first player to be put on the blocks during the auction was also purchased by Punjab Kings for an astounding Rs 18 crore, using the right to match card, beating out Sunrisers Hyderabad in the process. Amongst the players who went shockingly unsold included: Devdutt Padikkal, David Warner and Piyush Chawla.

When the day began, a total of 574 players were shortlisted from an initial pool of 1,574 names. This included 208 overseas players, 12 uncapped overseas talents, and 318 uncapped Indian players. Mallika Sagar stood up as the auctioneer for the whole period of the auction.

Chennai Super Kings had held on to Ruturaj Gaikwad, MS Dhoni; Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube and Matheesha Pathirana while Mumbai Indians had retained Hardik Pandya. Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Tilak Varma. On the other hand Royal Challengers Bengaluru retained Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal and Sunrisers Hyderabad retained Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy.

While Delhi Capitals players retained Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Abhishek Porel. Punjab Kings had decided to continue with only Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh. Gujarat Titans retained Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan even as Lucknow Super Giants retained Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav , Ayush Badoni and Mohsin Khan. Rajasthan Royals held on to Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer and Sandeep Sharma even as Kolkata Knight Riders retained Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh.

This gave Punjab Kings a purse of Rs 110.5 crore when the auction commenced,; Rajasthan Royals, Rs 41 crore; Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Rs 83 crore, Delhi Capitals, Rs 73 crore; Lucknow Super Giants, Rs 69 crore; Gujarat Titans, Rs 69 crore; Chennai Super Kings, Rs 55 crore; Kolkata Knight Riders, Rs 51 crore; Mumbai Indians, Rs 45 crore and Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rs 45 crore.

The players who were bought today included:

Kagiso Rabada (by Gujarat Titans for Rs 10.75 crore); Jos Buttler (Gujarat Titans, Rs 15.75 crore);
Mitchell Starc (Delhi Capitals, Rs 11.75 crore); Mohammed Shami (Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rs 10 crore); David Miller (Lucknow Super Giants, Rs 7.50 crore); Mohammed Siraj (Gujarat Titans, 12.25 crore); Liam Livingstone (Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rs 8.75 crore); K.L. Rahul (Delhi Capitals, Rs 14 crore); Harry Brook (Delhi Capitals, Rs 6.25 crore); Aiden Markram (Lucknow Super Giants, Rs 2 crore); Devon Conway (Chennai Super Kings, Rs 6.25 crore); Rahul Tripathi (Chennai Super Kings, Rs 3.40 crore); Jake Fraser-McGurk (Delhi Capitals, Rs 9 crore); Harshal Patel (Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rs 8 crore); Rachin Ravindra (Chennai Super Kings, Rs 4 crore); Ravichandran Ashwin (Chennai Super Kings, Rs 9.75 crore); Marcus Stoinis (Punjab Kings; Rs 11 crore); Mitchell Marsh (Lucknow Super Giants; Rs 3.40 crore); Glenn Maxwell goes (Punjab Kings, Rs 4.20 crore); Quinton de Kock (Kolkata Knight Riders, Rs 3.60 crore); Phil Salt (Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rs 11.5 crore); Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Kolkata Knight Riders, Rs 2 crore); Ishan Kishen (Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rs 11.25 crore); Jitesh Sharma (Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rs 11 crore); Josh Hazlewood (Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rs 12.50 crore); Prasidh Krishna (Gujarat Titans, Rs 9.5 crore); Avesh Khan (Lucknow Super Giants, Rs 9.75 crore); Anrich Nortje (Kolkata Knight Riders, Rs 6.5 crore); Jofra Archer (Rajasthan Royals, Rs 12.5 crore); Khaleel Ahmed (Chennai Super Kings, Rs 4.80 crore); T. Natarajan (Delhi Capitals, Rs 10.75 crore); Trent Boult (Mumbai Indians, Rs 12.5 crore); Maheesh Theekshana (Rajasthan Royals, Rs 4.40 crore); Rahul Chahar (Sunrisers Hyderabad,Rs 3.20 crore); Adam Zampa (Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rs 2.40 crore); Wanindu Hasaranga (Rajasthan Royals, Rs 5.25 crore); Noor Ahmad (Chennai Super Kings, Rs 10 crore); Atharva Taide (Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rs 30 lakh); Nehal Wadhera (Punjab Kings, Rs 4.20 crore); Karun Nair (Delhi Capitals; Rs 50 lakh), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (Chennai Super Kings, Rs 3 crore); Abhinav Manohar (Kolkata Knight Riders, Rs 3.20 crore); buy Nishant Sindhu (Gujarat Titans, Rs 30 lakh); Naman Dhir (Mumbai Indians, Rs 5.25 crore); Sameer Rizvi (Delhi Capitals, Rs 95 lakh); Abdul Samad (Lucknow Super Giants, Rs 4.20 crore); Harpreet Brar (Punjab Kings, Rs 1.50 crore); Vijay Shankar (Chennai Super Kings, Rs 1.20 crore); Mahipal Lomror (Gujarat Titans, Rs 1.70 crore); Ashutosh Sharma (Delhi Capitals, Rs 3.80 crore); Vishnu Vinod (Punjab Kings, Rs 95 lakh); Aryan Juyal (Lucknow Super Giants, Rs 30 lakh); Anuj Rawat (Gujarat Titans, Rs 30 lakh); Robin Minz (Mumbai Indians, Rs 65 lakh); Kumar Kushagra (Gujarat Titans, Rs 65 lakh); Akash Madhwal (Rajasthan Royals, Rs 1.20 crore); Mohit Sharma (Delhi Capitals, Rs 2.20 crore); Vyshak Vijaykumar (Punjab Kings, Rs 1.80 crore). Vaibhav Arora (Kolkata Knight Riders , Rs 1.80 crore); Yash Thakur (Punjab Kings, Rs 1.60 crore); Simarjeet Singh (Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rs 1.5 crore); Suyash Sharma (Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rs 2.6 crore); Manav Suthar (Gujarat Titans, Rs 30 lakh); Kumar Kartikeya Singh (Rajasthan Royals, Rs 30 lakh); Mayank Markande (Kolkata Knight Riders, Rs 30 lakh); Karn Sharma (Mumbai Indians, Rs 50 lakh) and Rasikh Dhar (Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rs 6 crore).

November 24, 2024
Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals steal the show as most loved IPL 2024 teams on social media

Mumbai: The Kolkata Knight Riders lifted the championship trophy against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the IPL grand finals on Sunday, bringing to a close the two-month cricket fiesta that was the 2024 IPL season. The nationwide cricket fever that the IPL inspires certainly ran strong all the way to the finals, peaking over the last weekend as fans all over the country took to social media to cheer for their favourites. With the thousands of online conversations taking place over the last month as the tournament picked up steam, there was plenty of passion, celebration, and heartbreak to be seen from fans across the country on their preferred social networks.

Observing these, Sprinklr compiled a list of some of the most interesting social media trends surrounding the IPL that emerged since the first match on March 22nd 2024, to tap into the sentiments of fans across the country and their thoughts and feelings about the 2024 season.

This data has been compiled using the social listening capabilities of Sprinklr Insights, aggregating mentions from India across selected news outlets, and social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit. Sprinklr Insights allows businesses and organizations to monitor, track, and analyze social media conversations and mentions related to their brands, products, or topics of interest.

Most talked about teams – Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians take the online favorite crown.

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians would take the top spot in online conversations with 37.6K mentions, for their persistent form through the season. The second spot would go to Rajasthan Royals, with 36.3K mentions. Eliminating the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the playoffs before finally falling to the Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Royals’ journey ended just one step short of securing their spot in the finals, winning them plenty of appreciation from fans across the country.

The online conversations racked up as fans would dissect the poor performance of the team and express their disappointment at the favorites failing to live up to their earlier form, expressing greater hope for the next season.

MOST POPULAR PLAYERS

Coming down to players, M.S Dhoni and Virat Kohli were the janta’s most favourite players, with over 86K and 77.9K mentions respectively. International players also were in the limelight this season, with Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins becoming the most talked about international player through the season with close to 15K online mentions. The Aussie’s calm composure as he led the SRH to the finals of the championship won him a place in the hearts of Indian fans despite the Sunrisers’ final stumbles. Fellow Aussie and Sunrisers teammate Travis Head would take second place for his incredible batting performances particularly in the playoffs, with close to 12K mentions, followed by KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer with 9.5K mentions.

TOP CITIES FOR CONVERSATIONS – METROS LEAD THE WAY

Mumbai and Delhi remained the hotbeds of cricketing conversations across the country through the season, generating close to 30K and 25K conversations respectively over the period tracked. Tournament runners-up Hyderabad would come in third place with over 22K conversations as they gave their fans much to cheer about in their run through the playoffs, while Bengaluru and Chennai would follow closely with 20K and 19.7K respectively.

REGIONAL CHATTER GROWS

Significant conversations also took place in regional languages across the social platforms of X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit, with over 82.07K conversations recorded in Hindi. Tamil and Bengali were the second and third most widely used regional languages online, with over 24.7K and 7.2K conversations respectively.
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You can access the complete dashboard of Sprinklr IPL 2024 Insights here.

May 28, 2024
Philips India teams up with Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders as Official Grooming Partners for IPL 2024

Mumbai: Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology and innovation, proudly announces its partnership with two prestigious Indian Premier League (IPL) teams, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), as their official grooming partner for the IPL 2024 season. This collaboration aims to harness the unparalleled popularity of cricket in India to spotlight Philips grooming products under the narrative “Groom like a Pro, Play Like a Pro,” aligning seamlessly with the brand’s ethos of excellence and performance.

As cricket aficionados enjoy the thrilling matches of IPL 2024, Philips India elevates the grooming routines of players and fans alike, urging them to present their best selves on and off the field. This partnership underscores Philips’ dedication to cricketers and individuals, enabling them to achieve a professional trim with our innovative grooming solutions.

In this collaboration, players from Sunrisers Hyderabad proudly display the Philips India logo on their headgear, amplifying brand visibility both on-ground and across digital and social media platforms throughout the tournament. Additionally, Philips India plans to curate personalized experiences in various cities, featuring contests and events where fans can win exclusive signed merchandise from their favorite players.

Through these initiatives, Philips India seeks to forge authentic connections between fans and their cherished teams, while reinforcing the brand’s superiority exemplified by the Philips Multigroomer. By inspiring a generation of cricket enthusiasts to groom like professionals, Philips aims to instill confidence that enhances performance, ultimately shaping a new standard of grooming excellence in the realm of cricket.

Philips Indian Subcontinent, business head – personal health Deepali Agarwal commented, “We are delighted to join forces with Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders as their official grooming partner for the IPL 2024 season. Cricket and grooming share a common thread of precision, skill, and confidence, and we are excited to champion this synergy with our advanced grooming products. Through this association, we aim to inspire men across India to groom like professionals and unleash their full potential, mirroring the ethos of our brand.”

Expressing their enthusiasm about the collaboration, the owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders shared their thoughts:

Sunrisers Hyderabad CEO K Shanmugan stated, “We are thrilled to welcome Philips India on board as our official grooming sponsor for the upcoming T-20 season. As we deliver exceptional performances on the field, it is equally important for our players to maintain their grooming standards. With Philips’ expertise in grooming solutions, we are confident that our players will look their best and feel confident, contributing to their overall performance.”

Kolkata Knight Riders, CMO Ninda Dey added, “The association with Philips India comes at an opportune moment for Kolkata Knight Riders as we embark on another exciting journey this season of T20. Grooming plays a crucial role in the lives of our players, and partnering with Philips allows us to provide them with the best grooming tools and products. Together, we aim to set new benchmarks of excellence on and off the field.”

April 17, 2024
playR becomes KKR’s global merchandise partner for T20 tournament

Mumbai: playR, sports and lifestyle brand, has announced that they have associated with Kolkata Knight Riders, the two-time champions of the T20 tournament, as the team’s global merchandise partner starting with the 2024 season.

This partnership will enable Kolkata Knight Riders to create a vast range of fan merchandise for their supporters worldwide. The merchandise range will include jersey and apparel, cricket equipment, fitness and accessories apart from lifestyle products for fans to show their loyalty to the team.

The objective of this partnership is to increase the brand’s visibility and reach a global audience. This will allow the team to further expand their already massive international fanbase and attract new supporters. The partnership will also enable Kolkata Knight Riders to provide their fans with unique and exclusive merchandise.

Knight Riders Group CMO Binda Dey stated, “in line with our continued commitment to KKR fans, we are thrilled to announce our partnership with playR as the Global Merchandise Partner for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the upcoming T20 Tournament. This collaboration opens up exciting opportunities for us to engage with our fans worldwide and offer them an extensive range of merchandise to showcase their support for their favourite team. With playR’s and our shared vision for enhancing fan experience, we are confident that this partnership will further elevate the fandom around Kolkata Knight Riders on a global scale.”

playR co-founder, director Ravi Kukreja expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership, saying, “We are thrilled to be partnering with Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2024 season and onwards. This partnership will allow us to create a unique range of merchandise for KKR fans around the world. We look forward to working with the team and helping them further strengthen and cater to their already strong fan base.”

playR is a sport and lifestyle brand founded in 2021 and strives to provide customers with unique and edgy apparel, sports equipment, bicycles and accessories that celebrates their style and encourages them to express themselves. Currently present in over 300 retail stores in India and International and e-commerce, playR strives to cross 800 plus stores over a period of two years. playR provides a wide range of products that includes t-shirts, jackets, shorts, tracksuits, bats, balls, leg-guard, gloves, bicycles, bags, yoga mats, bottles, etc, as well as limited-edition items. playR’s mission is to inspire customers to be creative, confident, and fearless by providing them with a unique and fashionable style.

March 26, 2024
UAE’s International League T20 to be held in Jan-Feb 2023

Mumbai: Emirates Cricket Board has confirmed that the inaugural ILT20 League will be held between 6 January to 12 February 2023. The new league will be called ‘International League T20 (ILT20)’.

Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence and Emirates Cricket Board chairman Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan said, “Emirates Cricket Board is delighted to welcome Reliance Industries, Kolkata Knight Riders, Capri Global, GMR, Lancer Capital, Adani Sportsline, broadcaster ZEE and all other stakeholders to the newly established T20 League of UAE. Such illustrious, experienced names and entities as partners bode well for the UAE T20 League. Through the commitment of these partners, they have demonstrated confidence in the Emirates Cricket Board as we take the game into the future.”

“As we begin this long journey, I am confident that together we will achieve new heights and in the process provide entertainment and excitement to the millions of fans around the globe who are waiting for the first ball of the UAE T20 League to be bowled. On behalf of the ECB let me assure everyone that whilst being entertained on the field with cricket, you will also be entertained by our traditional UAE hospitality off the field,” he added.

The six-team franchise-style league will be played over a 34-match schedule at world-renowned, world-class venues in UAE.

The tournament will also provide a valuable platform for Emirates Cricket to take developing their local talent to a higher level, where UAE-based players currently integrated into the board’s program, as well as those identified by the high-performance coaching and selection committee teams, will be allowed to train and play alongside some of the world’s best minds of today’s game.

ILT20 chairman Khalid Al Zarooni said, “Emirates Cricket, and the UAE, has a proven history of identifying and embracing initiatives that underpin the success of the game. It is vitally important that through this tournament UAE-based players continue to flourish which is one of the objectives of this league.”

He further added, “The ILT20 wishes to thank His Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Chairman of ECB for his unstinting support to UAE cricket which, under his guidance, has been growing from strength to strength. We look forward to introducing to the world a T20 event that will provide unmatched competition and entertainment to the ardent followers of this game.”

Selection Committee – Emirates Cricket Board chairman Dr Tayeb Kamali said, “The annual ILT20 event presents an excellent exposure for our players given the highly intense and competitive nature of the league. Each of the six teams in the 34-match tournament provides a wonderful opportunity for our young cricketers to play competitive cricket with world-class players.”

“Further, such a unique international league would play a big role in attracting and nurturing a larger pool of players who will go on to represent the UAE in the years to come. We look forward to the inaugural event and our players taking full advantage of the opportunity,” he said.

June 6, 2022
ZEE signs global media rights contract with UAE’s T20 league

Mumbai: UAE’s T20 league today announced the signing of a long-term global media rights contract with global media and entertainment powerhouse Zee. The league will air exclusively on Zee’s linear channels and its OTT platform Zee5, in India and across the world.

UAE’s T20 league is a professional cricket tournament comprising six teams competing in a 34-match competition, including – Reliance Industries, Adani Sportsline, Kolkata Knight Riders, Lancer Capital, GMR Group and Capri Global.

Zee’s strong global presence across 190+ countries will help build the reach and resonance for the league with viewers and partners. With immense synergies between its businesses and a holistic approach for advertisers and distribution partners, Zee will engage fans through a multi-platform strategy taking the league to more than 100 million households.

UAE T20 league matches will air across Zee’s 10 linear channels in the HSM (Hindi Speaking Markets), South and East regions in English, Hindi, and Tamil languages. The league will also be simultaneously streamed live on Zee5, and radio globally.

UAE’s T20 league chairman Khalid Al Zarooni said, “Nothing can be more satisfying than to have a credible broadcast partner like Zee associated with the league. I am thankful to both managing director & CEO Punit Goenka and president – Business South Asia Rahul Johri at Zee for having faith in this league and to grow into a commercially successful enterprise. It is further a matter of delight that Zee has decided to re-enter sports broadcasting with UAE’s T20 league being the first media rights acquisition. We are very confident that Zee has the strength of viewership to take our league to unmatched levels.”

Johri said, “At Zee, we are delighted to be the official global media rights holder of UAE’s T20 league. We believe that the league, which is already attracting globally, the biggest cricket stars and team franchisees, will provide fantastic cricket and entertainment to viewers across the world. Zee is committed to use the strength of its platforms to take UAE’s T20 league to audiences in India and across the globe.”

General secretary ECB Mubashshir Usmani said, “ECB wishes both UAE’s T20 league and Zee well for entering into this partnership. We recognize and appreciate the massive reach of Zee’s channels and their digital media platform which will benefit the league in terms of viewership. The tournament will also provide a valuable platform for Emirates Cricket to develop the local talent and to provide players the opportunity to train and play alongside the world’s best.”

May 24, 2022
McDowell’s No1 Soda enters partnership with five IPL teams this season

Mumbai: Diageo India’s flagship brand McDowell’s No1 Soda has announced its association with five IPL teams Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Rajasthan Royals as their ‘celebrations partner’ for the latest season of T20 Cricket.

“This year, McDowell’s No1 Soda plans to take the celebrations that arrive with the cricket season a notch higher with its campaign #No1YaariCheers. The umbrella spirits brand will be using this to enhance its engagement and celebration for this cricket season across languages and regions,” the brand said in a statement.

The brand campaign is ideated and created by the creative team at DDB Mudra. Talking about the creative concept, DDB Mudra executive vice president and business partner Sujay Ghosh said, “McDowell’s No1 has always stood for Yaari and mehfil (gathering). Cricket epitomises both of these. Hence this cricket season, we took the opportunity to create a new way to celebrate. Chants (Cheers) will be the new language of fans and friends this year, powered by the teams and McDowell’s No1 Soda.”

“Cricket is a sporting extravaganza that brings the entire country together with inspiring sporting action that’s a feast for Indians across the length and breadth of the country,” said Diageo India executive vice president and portfolio head – marketing Ruchira Jaitley. “So naturally, we are delighted to be associated with these five iconic teams. Moreover, this cricket season is the perfect platform to bring alive the special moments when yaars connect and make magic happen, whether while playing or else while watching this tournament.

“To further add to the fun and entertainment, we are excited to give fans a chance to cheer for their teams with inspiring and playful language like never before. McDowell’s No1 Soda is proud to share the spirit of Yaari with these amazing teams and build a meaningful new partnership,” Jaitley further said.

“Every win is a celebration not because it is a win but because of all the hard work that goes behind it and this year we are delighted to associate with McDowell’s No1 Soda as our celebration partner and hope our 12th Man Army will join us in celebrations and cheer for the team,” Royal Challengers Bangalore vice-president & head Rajesh Menon said.

A spokesperson for Mumbai Indians stated, “We welcome McDowell’s No1 Soda on board as we go into the fresh season and look forward to creating many opportunities for our fans to celebrate.”

“Walking into a new season with our first win, we are extremely excited to have the iconic McDowell’s No1 Soda who has always resonated and stood for strong bonds of Yaari join us as our Celebration partners. We are excited for what is in store and cannot wait to cheer along with them and our fans through the season as we battle it out to win the trophy.” commented Kolkata Knight Riders chief marketing officer Binda Dey.

Talking about this partnership, Rajasthan Royals CEO Jake Lush McCrum said, “We are pleased to be partnering with McDowell’s No1 Soda and have them support the team this season. We are hoping for a very successful season for the franchise, with many celebratory moments for fans to share with friends and family.”

“Over the last 10 years, we have seen a lot of bonds form amongst our players, both Indian and international, thus making the sport more entertaining for the fans. That is the testimony- that yaars and yaari can truly make things happen. We are excited to have the No1 enabler of friendships, McDowell’s No1 Soda on board this year and forge new bonds through the season,” Sunrisers Hyderabad CEO K. Shanmugam commented on this association.

The fans of the teams can follow the hashtag #No1YaariCheers and share their fun cheers for their favourite team through the season and win exciting prizes, said the statement.

April 8, 2022
IPL 2022: Mullen Lintas bags creative mandate for KKR

Mumbai: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has appointed Mullen Lintas as a communication partner for the cricket team’s creative mandate for Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. The creative agency will be responsible for delivering the campaign idea for the latest IPL season.

The IPL is in its 15th season, and as the first runner-up of IPL 2021, it is important for KKR to show their fans that they are ready to return to the pitch with renewed energy, according to the team franchise.

“KKR fans have always been the focus of our campaigns. We are fortunate to have one of the biggest fan communities that passionately root for the team,” remarked KKR CMO Binda Dey. “Our new campaign for this game season, designed by the Mullen Lintas team, aims to capture the frenzy and love our fans have always shown us unconditionally. We look forward to watching our fans cheer us on as they always have and have a great season together.”

Mullen Lintas will be responsible for KKR’s campaign idea for IPL 2022, along with the brand film, on-ground and digital activations, and even KKR’s internal branding and team manifesto. The account will be handled from the Mumbai office.

“IPL is as much about the franchises and players as it is about fans. The game is incomplete without the latter,” commented Mullen Lintas executive director Priya Balan. “IPL is a shared space between the team’s players and their fans. Being the year of change and induction of new team members, our campaign for KKR seeks to strengthen and widen this beautiful bond with its large community of fans.”

March 28, 2022