Coke Ropes In Anil Kumble For Promos

Coca Cola has signed up cricketer Anil Kumble for the company's marketing inititaives.

With the signing up of the ace spinner, Coke now has two cricketers less than rival Pepsi, which has contracts with Sachin Tendulkar, Mohd Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid, Ajay Jadeja and Sanath Jayasurya, endorsing its product. Coke has notched up Saurav Ganguly, Srinath and Kumble. Industry sources say, to counter Pepsi's Shah Rukh Khan, Coke is attemting to rope in another big Bollywood Khan.

Though Coke exceutives were tightlipped about the terms and conditions and the money at which Kumble has been signed on through the International Marketing Group, industry sources pegged the figure at around Rs 30 lakh.

Prakash Wakankar, vice president and chief operating officer of Coke's northern India bottling system, said: "Anil Kumble will play an integral part in our marketing initiatives and we will forge close bonds with his fans as well as our customers. "However, neither Wakankar or Kumble were forthcoming on how the cricketer would be involved in the "marketing initiatives" of Coca Cola.