Brett Lee in action for the Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab enters into partnership deal with Gulf Oil

Mumbai, April 11, 2009:

Gulf Oil today announced a partnership with leading IPL team, Kings XI Punjab, the Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia owned IPL contender boasting of Yuvraj Singh, Bret Lee, Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan amongst others. Led by Yuvraj Singh, the team is one of the favourites for the coming IPL to be held in South Africa.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Ravi Chawla, President Lubes Business says, “With this partnership, Gulf Oil, which has a long and distinguished history with motorsports, enters the world of cricket. Being a brand that sells in 100 different countries across the globe, IPL offers Gulf Oil an ideal brand building platform both within India and outside”.

Gulf Branded match

Sunday 26th April, Sarah Park, Newlands, Cape Town, S. Africa.

The Gulf-sponsored IPL cricket team, the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), beat the Rajasthan Royals (RR) to charge up the league table. This was a match in the 2009 Indian Premier League cricket competition, held in S. Africa rather than India because of security concerns. It is incredible how successfully the series has been transferred from India to S Africa with only a few weeks' notice: the organizers have really done a great job.

The match drew a crowd of thousands, including the Gulf Chairman Sanjay Hinduja and Operations VP Richard Pinchin, who enjoyed a thrilling game. The players' shirts bore the Gulf logo, which was also clearly displayed from time to time on the huge screens next to the scoreboard and on other electronic ground-side hoardings.

The game however, started with a shock. The KXIP opening batsman, Karan Goel, was run out on the very first ball. The innings continued steadily but slowly until the ninth over when the KXIP team was 48 for 4. From then on, Irfan Pathan and Kumar Sangakkara built a solid partnership at the crease. Each boundary was met with a huge cheer from the 17000-strong crowd, the waving of large Gulf-logo cards bearing the number 4 or 6, and a brief act from the Punjab team dancers. The innings closed out at 139 for 6; a total Shane Warne (the RR's captain) thought was easily within his team's reach.

During the interval five Cape Town schoolchildren were lucky winners of a draw which provided them each with a reward of U$ 2000 (approx.) towards their education. The IPL TV crew were also on the lookout for a potential new Bollywood starlet - one of several additional entertaining features of this series of matches which was watched by over 500 million on TV in India.

In the second innings KXIP struck back with a vengeance. In the 2nd over the two RR opening batsmen's wickets were taken by Irfan Pathan. Three overs later Yusuf Abdulla also took two wickets in one over, and then the spinner Piyush Chawla struck, dismissing two more of the RR team. Each wicket was greeted by huge cheers, fireworks and more dancing. The RR innings proceeded with the KXIP team being urged on from high in the stands by co-owner and Bollywood star, Priety Zinta. Although Shane Warne showed his great experience by stopping the rot, his partnership of 60 runs with Ravindar Jadeja only prolonged the inevitable decision:- RR lost after scoring only 112 by the end of this twenty over match. Then the celebrations for the KXIP team began in earnest.

Although the senior gentlemen at Lord's cricket ground in London might have reservations about the IPL twenty20 format, the spectacle and excitement was quite incredible. Hardly a minute of the 5 hour long event was quiet and without action. The award presentations were made in the presence of Sanjay Hinduja and the team co-owner, Preity Zinta. Man-of-the-match was Kumar Sangakkara, and the MVP award was presented to Irfan Pathan. KXIP were unlucky in their first two rain-curtailed matches to lose according to the statistical predictions known as the Duckworth-Lewis method, but they won their third match against the Royal Challengers, and this win on Sunday lifted them from 6th to 3rd in the IPL table. Event Of the Year

This year's most talked about event saw the Gulf colours splashed all over the TV screens. Amidst the exciting action and drama, there were many victories and defeats but all brands associated with the event emerged as winners because of the sheer popularity of the event. We are of course referring to IPL 2009!

Gulf partnered the IPL team Kings XI Punjab, a power partnership cemented by the shared commitment to speed, power and performance. The Gulf Brand enjoyed much visibility with in-stadium and uniform branding.

Bollywood stars, Cricket icons, the world media and Gulf Oil, it was most certainly the event of the year!