ESPN STAR Sports, the official broadcaster and commercial partner of Airtel Champions League Twenty20, has signed Bollywood legend and cultural icon, Amitabh Bachchan, as the brand ambassador for this edition of the tournament. Mr. Bachchan will feature prominently in a high decibel, multi-dimensional marketing campaign which has been launched across all forms of media – electronic, print, digital & outdoors. Former India captain and illustrious southpaw Sourav Ganguly was also present on the occasion. The sports broadcaster has signed Sourav Ganguly and Andrew Symonds as expert analysts for ACL T20. The tournament will be held from September 10-26, 2010 in South Africa across 4 venues – Johannesburg, Centurion, Durban and Port Elizabeth. All matches will be telecast live and exclusive on STAR Cricket.

Speaking on the occasion, Manu Sawhney, Managing Director, ESPN STAR Sports, said, “Airtel Champions League T20 is the world championship of the top T20 teams from various cricket playing nations. It marks the grand finale of T20 cricket where champion teams battle for the ultimate honour – Champion of Champions – which leads to the theme of our marketing campaign – Ab Hoga Asli Muqabla. The brand ambassador of such a prestigious property had to be someone who represented all such critical values – Competitiveness, Excellence, Class and Lineage. It is intense, premium and aspirational – and Mr. Bachchan fitted the bill perfectly for us to take this association to the next level.”

Speaking on the promotional campaign, Manu Sawhney, added, “An aggressive marketing campaign to build traction on ground has been launched across all forms of media. We have committed a lot of resources this year to building the property and I believe that our association with Mr. Bachchan will help take the entire event into a different dimension.”

Talking about the association, Amitabh Bachchan, said, “I am delighted to be associated with Airtel Champions League Twenty20. It is an interesting format – an international T20 tournament where only champion teams compete for the top prize. I am a huge cricket fan and always want to see Indian teams win laurels on the international stage. I am confident that the 3 IPL teams from India participating in this tournament will put-up a good show and get us the coveted trophy. I wish the very best to the three Captains – MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar & Anil Kumble for this event and hope that their teams do their best in this prestigious T20 event.”

The Airtel Champions League Twenty20, starting from September 10, 2010, will see an impressive line-up of more than 100 elite international players. The biggest names in cricket including Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mahela Jayawardene, Dale Steyn, Rahul Dravid, Shaun Tait, Jean-Paul Duminy, Ajantha Mendis, Anil Kumble, Matthew Hayden, Ross Taylor, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Jacob Oram, Malinga Bandara, Doug Bollinger, Dwayne Bravo, Michael Hussey, David Hussey and Sanath Jayasuriya will battle for the ultimate honour. The three Indian teams – Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore will lock horns with champion T20 club teams from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies.