With IPL-5 less than a month away, teams are striking unusual alliances. For instance, Washington Apples is the ‘official fruit' partner of the Chennai Super Kings.

But there is “synergy” between the two, insists CSK's think-tank. The key words are ‘fitness', ‘health' and ‘lifestyle'. “And the is focus on winning,” said Mr Chandrabhan Tiwari, General Manager – Marketing, India Cements, which owns Chennai Super Kings.

S. Badrinath, a key player in the CSK squad, gushed over apples. But his younger counterpart Abhinav Mukund rather bravely admitted he hated them. Washington Apples does have a task on hand!

Mr Keith Sunderlal, representative of the Washington Apple Commission in India, said: “This sort of partnership is new for a general commodities group. We had to first convince the group about cricket, then IPL and then CSK.”

Washington Apples says it sold 70,000 tonnes to India the last crop year. “It is still small compared to the overall consumption of apples in India. But there is growth potential. India is the third largest export market for us, after Canada and Mexico; and Chennai accounts for 60 per cent of India volumes,” said Mr Sunderlal.

Meanwhile, CSK has planned a slew of activities for the forthcoming season. The team will field an entire apparel range at various price points across 380 outlets in Tamil Nadu. It will also launch formal polos across premium Reebok outlets in the country.

CSK recently announced a mascot-naming competition which has seen 54,000 entries. The team will also come out with a new film soon.

>swethak@thehindu.co.in

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