KKR and TKR name MPL as the principle sponsors for IPL and CPL

The Mobile Premier League (MPL), the gaming and esports company, has been named as the principle sponsors of both Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Caribbean Premier League (CPL) respectively.

The IPL will get underway on September 19 around a week after the conclusion of the 2020 CPL. Venky Mysore, the Knight Riders’ Managing Director and Chief Executive, was delighted after the deal with MPL for the upcoming T20 tournaments. He also dropped a tweet regarding the same.

“We are very excited to partner with MPL, which is a vibrant Indian start-up company promoted and run by a group of young and innovative people, in esports and gaming, that is bound to grow significantly. Our partnership across KKR in IPL and TKR in CPL, will create new opportunities to socialise and activate our partnership,” the CEO was quoted as saying in The Times of India (TOI).

Excited to announce @PlayMPL as the principal sponsor for @KKRiders in @IPL & @TKRiders in @CPL
They are a vibrant Indian startup in Esports & Gaming, promoted & run by young, innovative minds. Looking fwd to building this partnership pic.twitter.com/kbWg86PsIB

— Venky Mysore (@VenkyMysore) August 14, 2020

“We are excited to be the principal sponsors for Kolkata Knight Riders. The team has been a household name right from the start and have won the prestigious IPL championship twice,” Abhishek Madhavan, the VP, Growth and Marketing, MPL, mentioned.

TKR to play in CPL 2020’s opening day

The CPL is all set to get underway on Tuesday, August 18 and Trinbago Knight Riders, the three-time champions, are set to lock horns with last year’s runners-up Guyana Amazon Warriors. The tournament will be played at two venues in Trinidad- The Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba and the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain.

Last time around, the Knights, after winning the title in 2017 and 2018, lost to the Barbados Tridents in the Qualifier 2 and crashed out of the tournament. Kieron Pollard, who led in Dwayne Bravo’s absence in 2019, has been retained as their skipper for the upcoming season as well.

As far as KKR is concerned, they won the IPL in 2012 and 2014 under Gautam Gambhir’s leadership. In 2019, the lost a flurry of matches and couldn’t qualify for the playoffs. However, Dinesh Karthik, who has led the team in 2018 and 2019, has been retained as the leader.