Virat Kohli as Uber's brand ambassador: How long will the ride last?

Sometime last year when Virat Kohli announced that he would not endorse a cola brand ever because it went against his lifestyle and principles, he set the cat among the pigeons. As Pepsi’s most high profile brand ambassador in the country, he had in effect turned against his own brand. The company however did not react and the issue was soon relegated to anecdotal status while Kohli continued on his winning spree making himself one of the most sought after faces among brands.

Now he has signed up yet another endorsement contract; this time with Uber (India). This is a first of its kind initiative for Uber. But for the cricketer, who is valued at US $144 million as per the Rise of the Millennials Report, this is his twentieth brand endorsement. Kohli signing yet another brand is hardly news. But it still gets to the headlines because the Indian captain has not been as discreet or as discriminating with his associations as he is with his game.

For instance when he cut himself out of cola major PepsiCo’s endorsement list, he did so publicly. In an interview to a media house he said that he was going to practice what he preached and stick to endorsements that promoted healthy lifestyles. Pepsi did not fit the bill. Endorsing a soft drink appeared out of sync with the Kohli persona. So Brand Kohli decided to go kosher. Pepsi did not react except to indicate that the cola major and Kohli had had a good run and they were satisfied with that. However the truth of the matter is that Kohli had been on a fitness trip for at least 3-4 years prior to dumping Pepsi. Why did it take him so long to dump the brand?

IPL 2017 gets bigger with sponsors, key players missing in the 10th edition

Amid much fan-frenzy, and competition among sponsors and players, the Indian Premiere League turns 10 this season. And organisers are preparing for a big celebration for the landmark edition, which kicks off on Wednesday. Unlike past editions, the 10th season will host eight different opening ceremonies, one before the first home game of each franchise, IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla announced on Monday.

After Pepsi terminated its contract with IPL, Vivo Electronics bagged the title sponsorship for two years in 2015. Business Standard had earlier reported that Vivo will pay Rs 100 crore a year, against the Rs 80 crore Pepsi was paying annually.

Broadcaster Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has signed up 11 sponsors, including Amazon, and it is targeting over Rs 1,200 crore in advertisement revenue from the 10th season.

E-commerce major Amazon, mobile handset maker Vivo and telecom giant Vodafone will be the presenting sponsors, while Ceat, wire-maker Polycab, Yamaha Motorcycles, Vimal Pan Masala, MakeMytrip, Parle Agro's Frooti, Voltas and YES Bank are associate sponsors.

However, the only regret for some fans of the cricket extravaganza this year is going to be the absence of some blockbuster names in the game. Thanks to international cricketing calendar getting busier with every passing year, the players are getting more prone to injuries. Even before the start of the touranment, injuries have already started bothering the franchises as well. Many star players could give this year's IPL a complete or partial miss.

The biggest among missing names in IPL 2017 is Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli, who is out due to his shoulder injury. Kohli, however, is likely to return on the field by the second week of April.

K L Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mitchell Marsh, Murali Vijay will completely miss the tournament due to their respective injuries. While Umesh Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja are likely to regain fitness, they would be missing some of the initial matches. Lasith Malinga is on a national duty and might miss the first few matches, while J P Duminy pulled out of the tournamnet citing personal reasons. (READ MORE)