Addressing a press conference, Prakash Wakankar, vice president and chief operating officer in the company's northern India bottling system, said "We are proud to have forged an alliance with one of the country's most talented cricketers. We welcome Anil Kumble to the CocaCola team."

Kumble said that with a strong company like Coke backing him, he can concentrate his energies on cricket.

"I have been eating cricket and sleeping cricket. Now it is time to have some Coca-Cola" quipped Kumble, in a take-off on Coke's popular ad slogan.

It is expected that Kumble will be part of Coke's on-the-spot promotions. Coca-Cola, as a rule, does not use celebrities for direct product endorsements.

The soft-drink major is, however, increasingly basing its marketing efforts in India on events and promotions revolving around movie stars and cricket players. Kapoor, who made it big with films like Raja Hindustani and Dil To Pagal Hai, is expected to be involved in Coke's promotions during Diwali this year.

In the past, Coke had signed on Saurav Ganguly and Javagal Srinath to promote its brands.

Ravi Krishnan, director of sales in India of the International Management Group (IMG), which manages Kumble's business interests, said that IMG and Coke have shared an important relationship in India. "Coke's signing on Kumble is an important step for us," he said.