Indiantelevision.com Team

(24 October 2007 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Indian cement brand UltraTech has decided to sponsor India's biggest domestic limited over tourney - the Challenger Trophy.

Three teams -- India Red captained by Mohammed Kaif, India Blue captained by Virender Sehwag and India Green captained by Parthiv Patel - will now compete for the honour of winning the UltraTech NKP Salve Challenger Trophy.

The matches will be held at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, starting on 25 October. The three teams will play each other once, and the top two teams will then play the finals on 28 October.

The event will showcase cricket talent including Kaif, Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Parthiv Patel, Yusuf Pathan, S Badrinath, Ishant Sharma, Ramesh Powar, Munaf Patel and Joginder Sharma battling it out over four days.

"The three teams are a good blend of young talent, seniors who have played for India in the recent past and of course some members of the world champion team in the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa," an official statement said.

Performances in the UltraTech NKP Salve Challenger Trophy will be closely monitored by selectors to identify top talent who can represent the country at the highest level.

Aditya Birla Group (Cement Business) group executive president and chief marketing officer O. P. Puranmalka said, "UltraTech is India's premier cement brand. It has also been in the forefront of supporting sports related activities. I am hopeful that the UltraTech NKP Salve Challenger Trophy will provide the ideal platform for the emergence of new cricketing talent. We are proud to be associated with India's premier domestic tournament."