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Pepsi recently arranged a ceremony to give a farewell to the Indian world cup cricket squad ahead of the World Cup Cricket 2007. In the ceremony, Pepsi Gold, a new Pepsi product, was launched and the brand ambassador of Pepsi, Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan, presented the first bottle of Pepsi Gold to Rahul Dravid, captain of Indian cricket team. Almost all the cricketers of the world cup squad were present at the ceremony.

Business Standard reported:

Pepsi brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan gifted the first bottle of Pepsi Gold to Indian captain Rahul Dravid.
Dravid said:"A truly momentous journey begins tomorrow for all of us, and I want to express our thanks to the Blue Billion, who have steadfastly stood by us, believed in us and motivated us to excel at the ICC Circket World Cup 2007. I remember Pepsi turning Blue four years back during World Cup 2003, and we didn't do too badly either. This time, it is Pepsi Gold, and gold is what we will aim for."

The popular actor Shah Rukh Khan wished all the success for the team in the world cup. He tried to cheer up the members of Team India.

Indiatimes Cricket reported:

"I don’t know a lot about sports, but I do know that it is not about winning and losing. It is about the belief that every sportsman has and the effort they put in. I just want to say to Rahul (Dravid) and the boys, that they should just do their best and leave the rest," Khan told almost the entire cricket team, including captain Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, at a function here.

Standing next to Dravid on stage, Khan even apologised to the team on behalf of the media, saying "Sometimes we may have said rude and demeaning things about the team when they lose, but let me tell you that we take it all back. We love you and we hope you bring back the World Cup."

I hope that Shah Rukh Khan’s sympathy would inspire the cricketers to do better in the upcoming World Cup. Pepsi inaugurated a new product naming Pepsi Blue just before the World Cup Cricket 2003. It did not perform in the market that well. So, let us see if Pepsi has the winning drink this time.