Janashakthi to sponsor Zimbabwe Test series

Janashakthi Insurance has come forward to sponsor Zimbabwe's three-Test tour of Sri Lanka, which will now be called the Janashakthi National Test series.

Janashakthi, sponsors of the West Indies tour as well, bought the sponsorship rights directly from Taj Television, a Dubai based broadcasting company who acquired sponsorship and marketing rights for Sri Lankan cricket in November.

According to Jude de Valliere, Taj Television's country representative, the value of the sponsorship for both Test series (six Tests) "worked out to somewhere near Rs20 million (USD $ 200,000)."

Speaking at the Test series launch at P.Saravanamuttu Stadium on Saturday, Chandra Schafter, the managing director of Janashakthi, said: "After Sri Lanka's successful Test series against West Indies we felt it was in the interest of both cricket at large and our company to continue to be involved with Sri Lanka cricket."