With the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 due to begin next week, the Delhi Daredevils, the GMR-owned Indian Premier League franchise, has signed Indian telecommunications company Idea as a back-of-shirt sponsor.

It is understood that the deal, valued by Indian sources at some US$1.7 million, will run for both the upcoming Champions League Twenty20 tournament and the third season of the IPL next year.

Idea, which already sponsors the Mumbai Indians IPL franchise, will join Coca-Cola, Hero Honda, Adidas, Wrigley's and Religare on the Daredevils' sponsorship roster.

A GMR official recently declared that all the team's sponsorship deals barring Coca Cola's will come up for renewal next year after the third season of the IPL. "Coca Cola, though, did not want to wait and was keen to re-sign as we have delivered good value," he said. "The other sponsors including are very much with us and are also keen to re-sign. However, we want to wait for the third season to get over before doing any more deals," he added.

The third season of the IPL is scheduled to start on 12th March next year. The competition, currently between eight city franchises, is due to expand to 10 teams for 2011, when a fresh player auction will take place.