Star India, a sports broadcaster, has signed Kannada film actor Shiva Rajkumar as official ambassador for broadcast of Vivo IPL in Kannada on Star Suvarna Plus channel.
"I have always been a cricket enthusiast and enjoyed playing and watching cricket, right from my childhood. IPL has been one of the tournaments I look forward to every year," he said in a statement here.
"I am looking forward to enjoying the best of cricketing action for the first time in my mother tongue," he added.
The announcement comes in the wake of Star India announcing broadcast of live IPL matches in six languages - Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Kannada.
Star India launched a TV commercial featuring Shiva Rajkumar, who is a big IPL fan.
The film opens with the actor telling his fans that IPL brings the same entertainment to the ground just as they had experienced it in his films as world-class players come together on this platform.
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The film with Shiva Rajkumar is an extension of Star India's belief to give Kannada sports fan more personalised content and enhance universal appeal of IPL by reaching out to their viewers in their own language, the company said.
It also said Karnataka is a unique market with high affinity to language content and very distinctive viewing habits.
The eleventh edition of IPL will begin on April 7 with defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai.