Cricket frenzy is blazing ahead faster than the Indian summers as India gears up for a rush of adrenaline with the cricket fever. To give Indians a dose of some great cricket with more than a dash of masala, Virgin Mobile has announced the launch of the INDIAN HATKE LEAGUE, an entertaining take on cricket. A fun and interactive initiative in the online space, the Indian Hatke League encapsulates everything that represents the Indian youth - adventurous, witty, cheeky with a hint of chutzpah! 

This online destination will engage Indian youth with its masala mix of cricket and excitement as well as a bunch of incentives including a Hyundai i20 for the Man of the Series! Indian Hatke League is scheduled to go live on April 17th, 2009 with the finals on May 24th, 2009. A total of eight teams with 11 players each will play 20 over matches in this day and night tournament.

Distinctly Virgin Mobile, even the teams have been impishly christened - Deccan ChilliEaters, Kolkata Tram Riders, Chennai Super Muthus, Kakke’s XI Punjab, Mumbai Manoos, Delhi Dhinchaks, Rajasthan Muchhads and Royal ChillMaadis Bangalore! The website is peppered with characters modeled on famous cricket personalities and youth icons. Ziddu with his wise cracks and Inzoo with his guru gyaan certainly add to the colour of this online cricket experience.

The distinct Virgin Mobile flavor can also be seen in the Indian Hatke League’s Team players such as Sachim Martodkar, Veeru Suhag, Mike Lassi, Hari Bhajji, Lakshmipatni Maalaji and Handdraw Shallowman. The spirit of the Indian Hatke League has also been captured in the design of the logo - a naughty ball knocking out the stumps!

They need to register themselves under a team of their choice, play the tournament representing that particular team, score individually and for the team during the game play. They can play as many times as they want and submit their best score for each match individually in the stipulated time for the game play. 

The users also have the option to practice anytime, choose the team they want to practice against to improve chances of winning during the scheduled matches on the indianhatkeleague.com. If the user’s team loses a match and does not qualify for next match, the user’s scores will still be retained. To continue playing, the user has to sign up for another team and play and the score history is carried forward.  

To spice it up there are lots of attractive prizes worth Rs. 10 Lakh to be won such as Man of the Series, Most obsessed User, Top 10 fastest Sixes, Sixer of the Series and a daily prize for Man of the Match. At the end of the series there are grand prizes to be won including a Hyundai i20. There are also points for recommending a friend to the website that can be redeemed against Virgin Mobile connections and exciting merchandize. Players on the website get special Online Retail offers on products purchased from Virgin Mobile India website.    

Commenting on the announcement of this innovative take on cricket, Mr. M A Madhusudan, CEO, Virgin Mobile India said, “The Indian Hatke League is all about interacting with the Indian youth and giving them a taste of some stimulating entertainment and sense of being part of a cricketing phenomenon in a HATKE way. For the Hatke champions, Virgin Mobile has some exciting prizes such as a Hyundai i20, Sony PSP and Virgin Mobile phones.”

Visitors to the website can also download exciting Indian Hatke League wallpapers, and interactive game based screen savers for free. The promotion of Indian Hatke League is also being done in a Hatke manner. Besides the offbeat marketing and advertising campaigns, community and fan pages will be created on social networking sites for the Indian Hatke League. These will individually include eight teams, their promoters along with 50 key team players’ profile and fan pages on popular social networking sites such as Orkut, Facebook and more. You can also catch up with  Zidoo and Inzoo these portals.

The website has been designed and executed by Culture Mafia for Virgin Mobile.