Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) players, Brett Lee, Sreesanth, Kumar Sangakkara and Ranadeb Bose together with club co-owner, Preity Zinta, connected with fans from around the world and young previously disadvantaged South African cricket players during an event yesterday in Cape Town, South Africa which launched the club's mobile fan club with mig33, the leading global mobile community.

The partnership will give KXIP fans the chance to engage directly with each other and KXIP players all via mobile phone.

The event took place in the Nyanga Cricket Stadium in Nyanga Township, just outside Cape Town in South Africa. As one of the oldest townships in the area this community is racked by poverty and has little access to sporting facilities.

Over fifty young players from two local schools received the opportunity of a life time when they took on KXIP players in the nets. The KXIP players coached each player giving each youngster the chance to show off their batting and bowling skills.

The players also fielded questions from the young cricketers who were eager to question their heroes about the Indian Premier League and cricket in general. Based on these questions a young player was selected by the team to walk with their captain for toss during their inaugural match against the Delhi Daredevils on Sunday.

At the stadium the KXIP players as well as Preity Zinta engaged in a live chat in the mig33 Cricket FanZone.

After joining the mobile fan club, KXIP fans can "watch" matches live with other fans on their mobile phones in dedicated chat rooms complete with live ball-by-ball commentary, receive important news updates from the team, meet new friends and buy official KXIP virtual merchandise in the mig33 content store.

Members also get access to the KXIP Chat Stadium and chat live with their cricket heroes.

During the live chat Preity Zinta fielded a range of questions from who she considers her best player to whether she would ever make a movie about cricket.

Commenting on her experience Preity Zinta says "It was amazing to connect with so many fans from around the world and be so close to them while sitting in South Africa. I hope that our fans will use this platform to ignite passion and support the team during the IPL. I look forward to this association with mig33 and to engaging in future chats with our fans."