Sunrisers name VVS, Srikkanth as mentors; Moody as coach

Sunrisers will be the new cricket team from Hyderabad in the high-profile Indian Premier League. The IPL’s Hyderabad franchise, now called the ‘Sunrisers’, have appointed former Australian cricketer Tom Moody as the team’s new coach, along with former India cricketers Kris Srikkanth and VVS Laxman as mentors. Kalanithi Maran and Chennai-based Sun TV Network own the team, which replaced Deccan Chargers, the terminated franchise. The Sun Group Thursday unveiled the name and the logo – an eagle soaring high, looking into the core of a rising Sun. [caption id=“attachment_565735” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The Sun Group Thursday unveiled the name and the logo – an eagle soaring high, looking into the core of a rising Sun. PTI[/caption] Present at the glittering ceremony were former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth, who will be the mentor and strategic analyst, coach Tom Moody and Chief Executive Officer Shanmugam. The team management will have some local flavour with former cricketer VVS Laxman as the mentor and brand ambassador. While Laxman could not attend the function due to some personal reasons, former players Shivlal Yadav and Venkatpathy Raju and top officials of Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) were present. Sunrisers has retained 20 players of Deccan Chargers: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Cameron White, Dale Steyn, Chris Lynn, Jean-Paul Duminy, Juan Theron, Abhishek Jhunjunwala, Akash Bhandari, Akshath Reddy, Amit Mishra, Anand Rajan, Ankit Sharma, Bharat Chipli, Biplab Samantray, Shikhar Dhawan, Veer Pratap Singh, Parthiv Patel, Ashish Reddy, DB Ravi Teja and Ishant Sharma. Srikkanth said the team may bid for more players when the leftover players are auctioned in January. “We may also pick up some talented Pakistani players if they are available,” he said adding that the team needs a few all-rounders. The former Indian captain said the new assignment would be a challenge for him. He hoped that the team led by Sangakkara would play well and come up with right kind of strategies to bag the title. Srikkanth, who was earlier associated with Chennai Super Kings, said the Sunrisers would play with positive energy as it has among its ranks quality players like Sangakkara, Steyn and White. Recalling his memories in Hyderabad, Srikkanth said playing for South Zone he scored 90 against an Asif Iqbal-led Pakistan team, which helped him make it to the Indian team. He hoped that his new task in the city would again bring good tidings. Replying to a query, he pointed out that Sun network has a wide following in the entire south, including Hyderabad, and this would help in creating a home fan base. Tom Moody said he was relishing the challenge of coaching the new IPL team. He hoped that with the support of Srikkanth and Laxman, he would be able to come out with a winning combination in the 2013 season. Shanmugam said the Sunrisers would operate both from Chennai and Hyderabad. He declined to share details like budget to bid for new players and the team sponsors. He, however, said Sunrisers would have no liabilities from the previous IPL franchise. Deccan Chargers, winners of IPL 2009, were terminated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the franchise defaulted in payments to both BCCI and the players. The Sun Network won the bid for the Hyderabad franchise for Rs.85.05 crore per year for the next five years, making it the second most expensive IPL team after Pune Warriors (Rs.702 crore for seven years). IANS