Hyderabad, October 2021: Guinness World Record Certified, World’s Largest Cricket Bat, designed by Pernod Ricard India (P) Ltd.; was unveiled by Shri Aravind Kumar, IAS, Principal Secretary, MA&UD and Commissioner, I&PR, Govt. of Telangana; Shri Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary, I&C and IT, Govt. of Telangana and Mohd. Azharuddin, President, Hyderabad Cricket Association; on the eve of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup; at Tank Bund, today. Mr. Udit Dugar, Zonal Head, South India, and Mr. Gopal Akotkar, Regional Head, Telangana & AP, Pernod Ricard India (P) Ltd.; were also present on the occasion.
The World’s largest cricket bat is 56.1 feet long, weighs 9 tonnes, and is made from poplar wood. It was fabricated by BSL events and took almost a month to build it. Seagrams Royal Stag Bottled Water is dedicating the Bat to the Indian T20 Cricket Team, participating in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Mr. Udit Dugar and Mr. Gopal Akotkar, formally handed over the bat to the Government of Telangana, on behalf of Pernod Ricard India (P) Ltd. The bat will be installed on Tank bund road in Hyderabad, for public display and to build the tempo in support of the Indian T20 Team, among fans.
Speaking on the occasion Shri Aravind Kumar said, because of this world’s largest bat and India – Pakistan match scheduled, our Diwali festivities will be celebrated tomorrow itself. We are installing the bat on Tankbund for people coming to Sunday Funday, to savor the visual treat this bat is. We have requested Azhar Bhai, that this bat should be accommodated in the Uppal stadium later. It’s a matter of pride for Hyderabad, that this bat, the world’s largest bat is being displayed here. I compliment Pernod Ricard for choosing Hyderabad to display this.
Shri Jayesh Ranjan said, I congratulate Pernod Ricard, they could have placed this rare bat, which holds the world record, in any part of India, but they choose Hyderabad and that’s a matter of huge pride. A record-holding bat will permanently be displayed in Hyderabad and that’s a tremendous honor. This World record bat can be a huge inspiration for our fans ahead of the World Cup. The T20 World cup is starting in UAE from today, and India’s first match is scheduled for tomorrow. Looking at our team’s form, the cricket they played and the wins they had against Australia and England, recently, they hopefully will continue that form and we are going to celebrate again on November 14th the day of the finals at the World Cup, as I am confident of the Cup coming to India. Indian team is in Group ‘B’, in that Group only Pakistan and New Zealand are strong teams, the other teams don’t have the caliber to take on India. In a way, it’s a good opportunity for India to play two strong teams in the initial stages of the tournament. If we can defeat Pakistan and New Zealand, we will be strongly staking our claim to be in the Semi-finals. From the current form of the Indian team, I can say India has an upper hand, their excellent form and are also fresh from wins in Australia last year and this year in England, even in IPL our team players showed excellent form be it Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Rishab Pant, they all are in good form, the same form if they continue they can register a thumping win against Pakistan tomorrow. I have been following India – Pakistan matches for the last three decades, these matches are always special, both the teams will have their best players with utmost enthusiasm trying to win the match, but considering the current form we should be realistic, they too have some good players Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Yaseer Shah, but Indian players have better form. Wish the Indian team the very best for the entire World cup and especially for the match against Pakistan.
Mohd. Azharuddin said, congratulate Pernod Ricard for fabricating this bat, weighing 9000 kgs, I was amazed to know about the weight of the bat. Being Hyderabad, I am more than delighted that this iconic bat was made in Hyderabad. It’s all the more rewarding as it is certified by Guinness World Record. You are being rewarded for the time, effort, and planning put in to make this epochal bat. I wish the Indian Cricket Team the very best in the T20 World Cup and for tomorrow’s match against Pakistan, it is going to be a great tussle and India will come off with flying colors. We have a very experienced team and my favorite player is Rohit Sharma. I request Jayesh Ranjan sir and Arvind sir to install this bat in the Uppal Cricket stadium, I will be more than happy to have it there, it will be a landmark in the cricket ground.
Mr. Udit Dugar, Zonal Head, South India, Pernod Ricard India (P) Ltd., said, This is our way of drumming up popular support for the Indian T20 Cricket Team, participating in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. It will serve as a lucky charm for the informed Indian team, to bring home the coveted T20 Cup. We at Royal Stag have been associated with Cricket for a long-time, in fact, it’s been over twenty years we have been associated with cricket, We have been working with India’s best cricketers besides some iconic cricketers from abroad. We are also big and proud partners of ICC for more than two decades. As the ICC T20 World Cup is on, we in our own small way wanted to motivate our team and send best wishes to our Indian cricket team. Keeping in line with our philosophy of ‘Living it large’, what we wanted to do was very very large and I am so happy, so proud, and deeply honored to present this bat for the people of Telangana and be placed right in the Heart of this city, the world’s largest bat at 56.1 ft., certified by Guinness World Record, as the world’s largest bat, it deeply honors me. I would urge all the fans to come to see this and pass on your best wishes to the Indian team so that we are cheering them to get the world cup back home because we are in it to win it.
Ritesh Miglani, Marketing Head, South India, Pernod Ricard India (P) Ltd.; said, we are delighted to dedicate the World’s largest cricket bat certified by Guinness World Record, to the people of Telangana. Any record which is a world record, which is world’s largest, world’s biggest, cannot be done overnight, we had this idea in gestation for over two years now, with this 56.1 ft., long bat, we break the current record of 51 ft., that was set up in June of 2019. This bat weighs 9000 kgs.
About Pernod Ricard India (P) Ltd.
Pernod Ricard India (P) Ltd is a fully owned subsidiary of Pernod Ricard SA, the world’s second-largest wine and spirits seller. It is home to a number of renowned brands like Imperial blue, Royal stag, Blenders pride, 100 pipers, Ballantine’s, Chivas Regal.
