Pepsi initiative to bring top Chelsea player to India

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In a bid to popularise football in the country, Cola giant Pepsi plans to bring a top English Premier League player to the country in June.

Star international footballers from the English football club Chelsea Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres will feature in a soon-to-be-aired Pepsi 'Change the Game' advertisement along with Indian cricket team skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and Harbhajan Singh.

"At an appropriate time we will let you know who that international player is who will come down and coach the winning team. We will share the information as we come closer to June. You will see how Pepsi is changing the game and we are the first brand to bring footballers and cricketers in the same commercial," a Pepsi official told here.

Asked if all the three Chelsea players would come to India, the official said, "We are working on the processes and dates, so at least one of them would be coming to Delhi."

The source added that the footballers are associated with the brand individually and it is not a tie-up with their club.

Pepsi recently launched its first football campaign in India featuring actor Ranbir Kapoor. The campaign has been followed by a grassroots initiative called Pepsi T20 Football, where amateur footballers will play against each other to finally compete against the Indian cricketers.

In an advertisement, Ivory Coast International Drogba says, "I like Dhoni. (In a) few games I have been watching of his, he is brilliant. He has been fantastic."

The commercial features the cricketers challenging the footballers to a game of cricket to win Pepsi, while the footballers show them how to play cricket - football style.

"Playing football in cricket style, that's a very new thing for us," English mid-fielder Lampard says while Spaniard Torres adds, "Playing soccer in cricket style was real fun."