Aditya Chaudhuri

The National Esports Championships (NESC) 2023 will have India’s two leading teams, Top-G and Purr-ple, creating history as they become the first all-female CS:GO teams from the country to compete for a place at the global finals of the World Esports Championships (WEC) when they go head-to-head against each other on March 18, 2023. The...

Bangalore-based Indian Premier League franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have announced a new partnership with Equitas Small Finance Bank. The partnership will see Equitas join as the Official Banking Partner of the RCB team for the upcoming season of the IPL. As the team's banking partner, the Equitas logo will be present on the trouser of the RCB playing kit. Both parties will also work on various social media and advertising campaigns. Rajesh Menon, Vice President & Head of Royal Challengers Bangalore, commented, "We are pleased to partner with Equitas, a leading financial player, with a history of investing in cricket. We look forward to executing a mutually beneficial partnership that lasts for a long -term.” Murali Vaidyanathan, Senior President and Country Head, Equitas Small Finance Bank, commented, "Equitas Small Finance Bank is excited to partner with a team like Royal Challengers Bangalore, which has a huge fan-following across the world. RCB takes pride in their synergy with fans, and this is also aligned to the core values of Equitas of taking pride in performance and synergies. While the team is renowned to have the favourite faces of the cricket industry, the team is also known to have recorded the highest totals and viewership out of all teams across 15 seasons.

Stationary firm Luxor has roped in former Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli as their new brand ambassador. As the face of the brand, Luxor hopes to connect with the youth through Kohli's popularity and cement its position as an industry leader. Luxor will be launching a new partnership with German firm Schneider Pen and Kohli will be headlining various campaigns for that project as well. Pooja Jain Gupta, managing director, Luxor Writing Instruments Pvt. Ltd. said, "We are elated to partner with Schneider Pens for our upcoming portfolio of products. This is a significant milestone in our growth journey and in line with our continued endeavour to bring world-class products to Indian consumers. Schneider is renowned for its engineering and design superiority, and we look forward to jointly creating best-in-class writing instruments for the Indian market through our partnership. Further, our association with youth icon and cricket legend Virat Kohli as the new face of Luxor epitomises our shared commitment to the highest standards of performance and excellence. With this association, we also look forward to encouraging today’s youth to express themselves through the power of writing and bring change in the world.”

Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have roped in sports fantasy gaming platform Vision11 has an Associate Sponsor. The year-long partnership will see Vision11 gain branding presence on the back of the CSK team cap and helmets. Kasi Viswanathan, CEO, Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited, commented: “As a franchise, we are absolutely delighted...

15-year-old British-Canadian racer Chloe Chong has been signed by PREMA Racing for the upcoming F1 Academy season. Chong, who started karting in 2013, most recently made her karting debut at the Rotax Max Euro Trophy and the IAME Ladies Cup in 2021, internationally. She raced in the X30 Junior category of the British Championship in...

A lawyer by profession, Apurva Daga, founded Cricket Lovers & Players back in 2019 with the goal of promoting the game in Kolkata, West Bengal and also use the game as a platform for networking for people from various industries, through various indoor and outdoor tournaments under the Cricket Lovers & Players moniker. Other members of the Cricket Lovers & Players team include Pankaj Arya, Dinkar Jeewani, Manish Harlalka and Ayush Sodhani. The Battle of Champions is the annual outdoor tournament which had its inaugural edition held in 2022 will be returning for its second season in March 2023. Other tournaments held have been the Alliance Turf Cup in 2018 and the Playmate Turf Cup since 2019, both of which are indoor tournaments and take place on an annual basis. The Battle of Champions 2023 edition will take place on March 18 and March 19, 2023 at the Bangur Avenue D Block, Kolkata. The day and night tournament will have six teams competing for the title. The 2023 edition will see the tournament introduce both men's and women's cricket as it aims to grow both the games and reach out to wider audiences, keeping true to its message of 'networking through the game'.

The National Esports Championships (NESC) 2023 organised by the Esports Federation of India (ESFI) is all set to pick the Indian contingent for the upcoming 15th World Esports Championships (WEC) in Iasi, Romania, which will commence from March 15, 2023 and will be conducted online. ESFI’s event partner Upthrust Esports will be executing the qualifiers where a total of 275 athletes will be participating across all four titles – CS:GO, DOTA 2, Tekken7, and eFootball 2023. Marking a historic step, the country’s top female CS:GO athletes will be battling it out in the NESC to secure their berth at WEC 2023 for the very first time. While the open qualifiers of CS:GO will have 21 teams (127 athletes) competing, the women qualifiers will see the participation of 2 teams (11 athletes). For DOTA 2 there will be six teams (33 athletes) fighting against each other and for the single-player titles such as Tekken7 and eFootball 2023, there will be 72 and 32 competitors respectively. Vinod Tiwari, President of the Esports Federation of India, commented, "We are proud to see the overwhelming response for NESC 2023 from the male as well as female athletes of the country. The participation of such talented athletes will give India the impetus to exceed all expectations at the World Esports Championships. The qualifiers are going to be an exciting affair with high-quality gameplay and top-notch thrilling moments as every athlete gives it their all to compete on the biggest of stages. Everyone at ESFI wishes the participants all the best and is looking forward to the qualifiers."

QMS MAS (Medical Allied Services) has roped in former India men’s national cricket team captain Kapil Dev as a brand ambassador. The partnership will see QMS launch its new medical device, called the “Q-Device”, for which Dev will be headlining the marketing campaigns.   The company released a statement, which read as follows: “In a career...

The national flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, SAUDIA has been announced as the Official Global Airline Partner of the Aston Martin Formula One team following an agreement between both. As part of the deal, SAUDIA have also launched a new global competition which will give fans an exclusive Aston Martin F1 experience at one of the Grand Prix events to which SAUDIA flies. Khaled Tash, SAUDIA Group Chief Marketing Officer, commented, "We are very excited to expand SAUDIA's strategic sports partnership portfolio and announce our most recent collaboration with such a renowned name in the automotive and motorsport industry. At SAUDIA, we believe in the power of sports to unite people and create a borderless world. Therefore, we have been highly selective in choosing top global sporting teams that share our vision. 'With a passion for driving innovation and sustainability-focused initiatives, we are confident that we have found a natural partner in Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team. Together, we look forward to providing unforgettable experiences for Formula One fans in the Kingdom and beyond throughout the 2023 season."

Leading Indian esports organisation S8UL has announced a new partnership with KRAFTON, maker of popular battle royale game BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA, for the Indian launch of its latest mobile game — Road to Valor: Empires. This one-of-a-kind partnership in India between a developer and an esports organisation is aimed at boosting the growth of the...