Sun's IPL franchise CEO is Sundaram Shanmugam; unveils brand identity of team

MUMBAI: Sun TV Network has appointed Sun Direct chief financial officer Sundaram Shanmugam as the CEO of its Hyderabad IPL franchise, Sun Risers. Sun Direct is the direct-to-home arm of Sun Group.

Sun TV unveiled the brand identity of its team Sun Risers. It recently awarded the creative duties of its IPL team to JWT India.

Tom Moody will be the team coach and Kris Srikanth the team mentor.

The Sun Risers logo depicts an eagle soaring high, looking into the core of a rising sun, absorbing the colors of the bright star to become ?one with the sun?.

The new identity encapsulates the valour, chivalry, endurance, independence and fearlessness of the eagle synthesising with energy and radiance obtained from sun.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Sun Risers CEO Sundaram Shanmugam said, ?It is a moment of great pleasure for us to present the identity of the Hyderabad IPL team to all cricket enthusiasts across the world. Being in the business of media and entertainment, we are extremely happy to be a part of Cricket family to provide maximum entertainment to all cricket buffs.?

He also added that Sun Risers is a wonderful value creation opportunity for the Sun Group. This franchisee will help the Sun Group conglomerate to attain the perfect synergy among their varied interests.

Sun had retained 20 players in their initial squad for the 2013 season which included six overseas players. It had spent $5 million on retaining players out of its purse of $7 million.

Sun TV had in October bought the Hyderabad IPL team for Rs 4.25 billion for a period of five years till 2017. From 2018, Sun will own the franchise in perpetuity and will pay 20 per cent of the franchise revenue every year as fee to the BCCI.