The Bollywood quotient in IPL keeps getting bigger. Akshay Kumar has now jumped into the IPL bandwagon. With Akki as brand ambassador, the Delhi Daredevils have some star power to rival Preity’s Kings XI Punjan and SRK’s Knight Riders.

Delhi’s Daredevils have them all and now adding value to their arsenal is Bollywood’s Khiladi No 1. – Akshay Kumar. The Daredevils can now claim to be at par with Preity Zinta’s Kings XI or SRK’s Knight Riders.

GMR Sports, owners of Delhi Daredevils, has roped in film actor Akshay Kumar as the team’s
brand partner for the upcoming DLF Indian Premier League.

“Akshay Kumar’s personality exactly matches the persona of team Delhi Daredevils,” GMR Sports Chief Executive Officer Yogesh Shetty said in a statement.

Commenting on the development, Akshay, born and brought up in Delhi said, “My heart beats for Delhi. I consider myself a pucca Dilliwallah.”

With this, the number of film stars associated with the IPL has increased. Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta have already paid huge amounts to become the owners of the Kolkata and the Chandigarh team respectively.

The Delhi Daredevils, led by Virender Sehwag, includes Gautam Gambhir, Manoj Tiwary, Mohammad Asif, Daniel Vettori, Dinesh Karthik, Shoaib Malik, Glenn McGrath, Abraham de Villiers, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Farveez Maharoof, Amit Misra, Pradeep Sangwan, Brett Geeves, Rajat Bhatia, Shikhar Dhawan, Yo Mahesh, Mithun Manhas, Mayank Tehlan and Greg Shipperd (Coach).

The Delhi Daredevils will play their first game at the Ferozeshah Kotla against Team Jaipur on April 19. The team will then travel to Hyderabad on April 22 to play the Deccan Chronicle-owned team in its first away fixture.

Kings 11 launched amidst fanfare

Bollywood star Preity Zinta launched ‘Kings 11′, team Mohali of the Indian Premier League, amidst
confusion over the venue for the mega show tonight (March 31).

The launch event was scheduled to be held at main market in Chandigarh, but the administration denied the organisers permission on security grounds at the eleventh hour.

The event was finally held at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium with fanfare.
“We were keen to declare the team at the people’s place. However, the administration in Chandigarh denied permission claiming that it would be difficult for it to manage so many people,” Zinta told a sizeable gathering on the occasion.

“We are launching the team at a ground where we will be playing our matches,” she added.

She introduced team Captain Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, S Sreeshanth, Piyush Chawala, Karan Goel, Sunny Sohail, Pankaj Dharmani, Nitin, Yash Gandhi and Mudussar besides coach Tom Moody.

The logo of the team was also unveiled.

Moody exuded confidence in his team’s good show while PCA president I S Bindra hoped that the team will win the trophy.

“The team is young, good and smart and we want all of you to come and cheer it up,” Zinta said.

Team’s Captain Yuvraj said, “It is nice to be in Punjab. It will be a good league.”

International players, featuring in the team including Brett Lee, Symon Katich, James Hopes, Luke Pomer Suboch, Kyle Mills, Ram Naresh Sarwan, Kumar Sangakara and Mahila Jayawardena, were though missing at the ceremony.

Kings 11 will lock horns with the Chennai Team on April 19 in Chandigarh. Punjabi singer Daler Mehandi also performed on the occasion.

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