MUMBAI: Very few sportsmen can cross the rubicon and move into running successful businesses. Tennis veteran and legend  Leander Paes is attempting the same with his outfit Flying Man Ventures (FMV). He has hired marketing veteran Apurva Sircar as the company’s CEO. The goal: grow its business in various verticals like sports, sports education, health & wellness, corporate collaborations and  entertainment.

Sircar announced his joining at the beginning of this week. Despite his experience, he expressed his nervousness.

Said Sircar on Linked in: “On Monday, I joined a legend in the world of sports to help him execute his vision of making the world a better place through sports and fitness. As I begin my days at at FMV, I feel excitement and nervousness in equal measure. The latter gets taken care of whenever Leander says (and says often), “I got you, champ!” It is my privilege to be Leander’s full-time professional partner off the court. He’s a global icon, having played professional tennis for nearly four decades. He is a man with amazing human values, Lee is an inspiration to so many across the globe.”

Sircar has had a career of 20 years having headed marketing at Bandhan Bank, brand, insights, corporate communications and digital markting at Aegas Federal Life Insurance, channel marketing at Birla Sun Life Insurance, worked as a brand manager with Kotak Mahindra Bank, apart from stints with Heinz India and Blowplast.

As he begins his journey at FMV, the gut feeling is that both he and Leander are going to hit it out of the park. Even if they are entering the sports business game a little late. That's because the sports ecosystem is going to explode in the next decade as India works on building a sports culture.