V.V.S. Laxman, the captain of Deccan Chargers, the Hyderabad team in the Indian Premier League, feels excited to lead the side which has international stars like Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs and Shahid Afridi.
Confident of a good show in the tournament, he promised good entertainment for the fans by his team, a franchise of English daily Deccan Chronicle.
The name, logo, flag and website of the team were launched at a glittering function here Tuesday night amidst drum beats and colourful dances by Bollywood actress Sameera Reddy and a troupe of Casino girls.
"It is a huge honour to lead the side. I am very excited. We have a balanced side," the stylish batsman told the gathering at Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC).
Though not a regular face in the national side for one-day internationals, Laxman hopes that the Twenty20 format would prove a real entertainer. "It is the most exciting thing to happen since Kerry Packer Series in early 1970s," he said echoing the views expressed by his deputy Gilchrist in a recorded message.
Later, talking to media persons, Laxman said he was yet to decide the batting line-up. He was asked about the position he would be batting at as the team has many hard-hitters like Gilchrist, Symonds, Gibbs and Afridi.
The captain is also confident that he would face no problems in handling players like Symonds, who was involved in many a spat with Indian players during the recent series in Australia.
"As Gilchrist rightly said, there will only be a boundary line and no boundaries between players. The players from different countries will gel with each other," he said.
"I am happy to have these two amazing cricketers and the match-winning players," he said referring to the two Australians.
Robin Singh, the coach of Deccan Chargers, also does not see any problem in handling the players. "They are thorough professionals. There should be no problems," he said.
Though none of the foreign players turned up for the event, some Indian players including Rohit Sharma were introduced to the gathering.
The team also has players like Chaminda Vaas, Chamara Silva and Nuwan Zoysa of Sri Lanka, Scott Styris of New Zealand and India's national player R.P. Singh besides some local youngsters.
Earlier, the team's logo, a charging bull, was unveiled. "Bull signifies strength, power and aggression," said J. Krishnan, president and CEO of Deccan Chargers.
Minister for Labour and Employment and president of Hyderabad Cricket Association G. Vinod handed over the team's flag to Laxman.
"The red colour in the flag stands for boldness, aggression and dominance while the gold is a divine colour and signifies fortune and victory," said Krishnan.
"Deccan Chronicle is committed to growth of sports, especially cricket. So when the opportunity to bid for this unique tournament came we went after it. We had a well thought out strategy in terms of who will be in the team," he said.
The largest-circulated English daily in Andhra Pradesh wants to take cricket to the grassroots level in the catchments area of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.
"We will take the game to college and school level and set up international level academies to help talented youngsters to come up," Krishnan said.
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