GMR ropes in daredevil Akshay Kumar as brand ambassador

Bollywood’s daredevil or a Delhiite? Bollywood action superstar Akshay Kumar made it clear on Monday that he is a pure Delhiite as his heart beats for Delhi when he was roped in as brand ambassador of the Indian Premier League's 'Delhi Daredevils' by the GMR Group the franchise owners of the team.

The Delhi-6 lad, as capital’s Chandni Chowk area popularly known as where Akshay was born and brought up, made a grand entry emerging from the dim light while unveiling Daredevils' attire in a red and black shirt with helmets and a willow on making a batting gesture.

"I am a pucca Dilliwalah since my heart beats for Delhi. I would like to thank the GMR Group for picking me as the first fan of Delhi Daredevils. I hope I would become a lucky mascot for the team," Akshay said during the ceremony.

On the occasion, the team’s website was also launched at the event. Arc Worldwide has developed the website that has host of innovative fan friendly features and shall be the one stop shop for all information on the Daredevils, from downloading unique wallpapers to blogging and it will be also the focal point of interaction during and after the league.

The high-adrenaline event also saw GMR Sports bringing together the likes of Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, speedster Mohd. Asif and Delhi’s very own ace batsman Virender Sehwag, the captain of Daredevils and Gautam Gambhir.

Hero Honda will be the main sponsor of the Delhi Daredevils team, while Kingfisher and Religare are the associate sponsors. Adidas will sponsor the team‘s playing attire. Leo Burnett is the advertising agency that will manage their account.

Cricket and Bollywood are going hand in hand with the much-famed IPL countdown begins. IPL has had some big Bollywood names in the form of Sharukh Khan Juhi Chawla and Preity Zinta, among others. Now, GMR Sports has roped in Akshay Kumar as Brand Ambassador for the Delhi Daredevils team for the upcoming DLF Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament.

Addressing the mediapersons, Srinivas Bommidala, Chairman, GMR Sports, said, “GMR Group has a very close connection with Delhi. We are soon presenting Delhi a world-class facility airport. And with Delhi Daredevils, we want to take Indian sports to a new level.”

For bringing in Akshay as brand ambassador, Yogesh Shetty, CEO, GMR Sports, said, “Akshay Kumar’s daredevil personality suits with our team Delhi Daredevils. We are privileged to have him as the first fan of the team.”

The Delhi Daredevils has a fine balanced team that comprises the Delhi dasher Virender Sehwag (Captain), Gautam Gambhir, Manoj Tiwary, Mohammad Asif, Daniel Vettori, Dinesh Karthik, Shoaib Malik, Glenn McGrath, Abraham de Villiers, Tillekratne Dilshan, Farveez Maharoof, Amit Misra, Pradeep Sangwan, Brett Geeves, Rajat Bhatia, Shikhar Dhawan, Yo Mahesh, Mitthun Manhas, and Mayank Tehlan, while Greg Shepperd is the coach of the team.

The Delhi Daredevils will kick-off their campaign against the Rajasthan Royals at the Feroze Shah Kotla stadium on April 19.