(12 November 2008 8:00 pm)

MUMBAI: The Essel Group has announced that the Indian Cricket League (ICL) online application that was developed in association with Games2Win (G2W) on the social network Orkut, is played more than 6,500 times a day.

In 15 days the ICL application has had 20,000 installs and over 100,000 plays. ICL says that the application has been steadily climbing the ladder on the Orkut's application directory and now has been featured on the first page of the same.

The steady rise of the applications popularity is attributed to its content and the Orkut community's word of mouth. On an average, an user spends more then six minutes on this application.

Games2win.com founder and CEO Alok Kejriwal says, "The ICL application is in tune with our company's philosophy of guerilla marketing. At Games2win, we believe that content is king, we don't spend massive advertising moneys trying to promote a product. The ICL application is a perfect example of the same, its popularity is a huge achievement for us."

ICL senior VP-marketing and operations Shariq Patel says, "The ICL, right since its inception, has had a comprehensive plan for its consumers using the digital medium. I take pride in saying that we have delivered an extensive & interactive sports product for the digital users. ICL will proactively offer the latest innovations in the near future, to make it an enriching and fruitful experience for our consumers, using the vibrant digital platform".

Google product manager Manu Rekhi said, "We are always excited to see developers using OpenSocial to build great applications for Orkut users. The Indian Cricket League app is an example of one such application. It addresses a large need and does so by engaging users' friends in a fun and interactive manner."