29 January,2011 06:48 AM IST | | AFP
Indian conglomerate Karuturi Global has signed a one-year deal to sponsor the Kenya cricket team beginning with the World Cup starting in Asia on February 19, officials said yesterday.
Cricket Kenya (CK) said the sponsorship, which is the single largest deal to have been undertaken by the association in recent years, would cater for all the financial requirements of the team during the World Cup.
"We have had disputes on the issues of money in the past. The last thing we should be worried about going into this World Cup is money," said CK chairman Samir Inamdar.
"Having negotiated our way into a formal agreement with the players, everybody will now go into the World Cup and claim it," he added.
Kenya team captain Jimmy Kamande welcomed the move, saying: "Our main concern was that we could go to the World Cup without a team sponsor. But with Karuturi having come on board, all is well."
The sponsorship will also cover the development of cricket from the grassroots.