Deccan Chronicle Unveils the Deccan Chargers

Hyderabad, March 18th, 2008: Deccan Chronicle, the largest selling English daily in AP today and the face of the South, unveiled the name, logo, flag and anthem of Hyderabad's very own DLF Indian Premier League team at a glittering function at Novotel Hyderabad.

The team has been named the Deccan Chargers and has a "charging bull" as its logo. The Who's Who of Hyderabad along with former cricket players and eminent sportsmen were in attendance and provided enthusiastic support for the Deccan Chargers. With the dazzling Mandira Bedi as compere, and scintillating performances from actor Sameera Reddy, the Mumbai-based band the Mumbai Stamps and elegant Can Can dancers from Ibiza, the function was unique and memorable.

Deccan Chronicle's, Chairman Mr. Venkattram Reddy, welcomed the gathering and said, "The Deccan Chronicle Group has always believed in promoting sports, including cricket and the Deccan Chargers is our way of contributing to this vision. We are confident that our Deccan Chargers would inspire a whole new generation of cricketers in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa to build on their talents and reach greater heights."

Mr. J. Krishnan, President & CEO of the Deccan Chargers, presented various aspects of their strategy for the formation of the team and said, "The Logo for the team, the Charging Bull signifies Strength, Power and Aggression. The team flag comprises Red & Gold. Red stands for aggression and dominance. Gold signifies victory. The Deccan Chargers team will always be strong, powerful and aggressive and will play to win."

The team management of the Deccan Chargers also appointed Adam Gilchrist as the Vice Captain of the team. In a pre-recorded video message, Adam Gilchrist said that he was delighted to be a part of the Hyderabad Team and was excited that players from so many cultures would play together. "Boundary lines only exist on cricket grounds, but there would be no boundaries within the team players," he said. He expressed his appreciation of the Hyderabad cricket fans and said they were extremely knowledgeable and terrific supporters of the game. He also accepted the position of Vice Captain and pledged to bring all his international experience to support the growth of young cricketers in the Hyderabad franchise.

V V S Laxman, Captain of the Deccan Chargers, said, "It is an honour to be the Captain of such a wonderful team of international players, each a match winner in his own right. The DLF IPL Twenty20 would also provide a great platform for our younger players to play side by side with international greats and hone their skills."

Team Deccan Chronicle has a great mix of youth and experience with some of the finest cricketing talent from across the globe. Besides captain Laxman, the Deccan Chargers boast prodigious talent of the world's best gloveman in the form of all time great Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist and the quintessential match winner Andrew Symonds. Not to mention explosive South African opening bat Herschelle Gibbs and Pakistan superstar Shahid Afridi. Add to that the exuberance of Indian youth in the form of emerging superstars Rohit Sharma and Rudra Pratap Singh and the experienced Scott Styris, Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa and you have a truly match winning combination. Sanjay Bangar and Venugopal Rao will bring their international experience to advantage. And the young talent in the Hyderabad and Orissa sides the likes of Pragyan Ojha, Ravi Teja, Arjun Yadav, Kalyan Krishna, Vijay Kumar, Sarvesh Kumar and Haldar Das have all been lighting up the domestic cricket scene with scintillating batting, bowling and all round performances. The team will be coached by current Indian fielding coach and wily Indian all-rounder Robin Singh, who will be assisted by Kawaljit Singh and cricket managers Shishir Hattangadi and Vijay Mohan Raj.

The Deccan Chargers also unveiled their interactive website www.deccanchargers.com, which boasts discussion forums, player stats, match schedules, photo/video gallery and blogs so that fans from all over the world can interact with and support their team.

The Deccan Chargers will play their first game against the Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata on Sunday April 20th 2008. The team will then travel back to Hyderabad to play its first home game against the Delhi Daredevils on April 22nd at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium.