Mumbai, 16 April 2008
Rankings now known as Reliance Mobile ICC Rankings
The ICC today announced that Reliance Mobile, the Mobile Services brand of India ’s largest integrated telecommunications company Reliance Communications, has become the new sponsor of the ICC Team and Player Rankings through to 2015.
The rankings will now be known as the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings and the Reliance Mobile ICC Test and Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Rankings.
Reliance Communications entered into an eight-year agreement with the ICC last year, starting with the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in South Africa . This new agreement is an extension and expansion of that long-term partnership between ICC and Reliance Communications.
Sanjay Behl, Head of Branding, Reliance Communications, said: “Reliance ADA Group is proud to be associated with the official Reliance Mobile ICC Rankings. It gives us immense pride to be part of a process which recognizes, honours and rewards the passionate endeavours of cricketers across all Test and ODI playing nations.
“Reliance Mobile ICC Rankings uphold the true values of competitive sportsmanship, unflagging team spirit and unparalleled individual talent in the game of cricket which continues to captivate the growing millions of followers all around the world.
“Reliance Mobile ’s relationship with the ICC is a long-term strategic association, providing us a platform to communicate and interact with our growing customer base in India and across the globe,” Sanjay Behl added.
Commenting on the agreement, ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed said: “We have already established an excellent relationship with Reliance Communications starting in South Africa last year with the ICC World Twenty20, and, given that relationship, we are delighted to extend it further, with Reliance Mobile becoming the sponsor of ICC Rankings.
“The ICC Rankings have established themselves as the benchmark for players and teams since their inception and they give context to every single batsman’s innings, bowling spell, Test and ODI played.
“This long term agreement with Reliance Communications is great news for cricket and is a further indication of the current good health of the game of cricket.
“Partnerships like this one with Reliance Communications are ensuring our strong sport grows even stronger,” added Mr Speed.
Each ICC Global Partner is entitled to naming rights of one of the ICC properties – the ICC Awards, the ICC Rankings, the ICC Development Programme and the ICC’s Global Cricket Academy .
About Reliance Communications: Reliance Communications Limited, founded by the late Shri Dhirubhai H Ambani (1932-2002) is the flagship company of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group currently has net worth in excess of Rs. 40,000 crore, cash flows of Rs. 9,000 crore, net profit of Rs. 5,000 crore and zero net debt.
Rated among “Asia's Top 5 Most Valuable Telecom Companies”, Reliance Communications is India 's foremost and truly integrated telecommunications service provider. The company, with a customer base of around 46.5 million including over 1.4 million individual overseas retail customers, ranks among the Top 10 Asian Telecom companies by number of customers. Reliance Communications’ corporate clientele includes 1850 Indian and multinational corporations, and over 200 global carriers.
Reliance Communications has established a pan-India, next generation, integrated (wireless and wireline), convergent (voice, data and video) digital network that is capable of supporting best-of-class services spanning the entire infocomm value chain, covering over 15,000 towns and 400,000 villages. Reliance Communications owns and operates the world's largest next generation IP enabled connectivity infrastructure, comprising over 175,000 kilometers of fibre optic cable systems in India , USA , Europe, Middle East and the Asia Pacific region.
ICC MEDIA RELEASE