India Cements roars its team name Chennai Super Kings

Indian Premier League Chennai franchisee launched its team’s name as 'Chennai Super Kings' after unveiling its logo at a glitzy function here on Monday.

The name of the team ‘Chennai Super Kings’ has been finalised from over 25,000 entries received by the Chennai city’s fans as they were given the opportunity to name their team. The 44-day IPL, which starts on April 18, will feature eight teams in home and away games leading to the semifinals and final.

N. Srinivasan, vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements, said, while revealing the logo, “Twenty20 league is an excellent opportunity for Chennai’s hard core cricket followers to watch high-quality fare.”

Former India opening batsman Krishnamachari Srikkanth will be the team's brand ambassador, while his state mate V B Chandrasekar, a former national selector, would be given the responsibility of selecting the players.

Former India captain Srikkanth cracked an audience splitting joke by saying that he was the ideal brand ambassador for the Twenty20 format as he hardly batted for more than 20 overs during his playing days.

"It is a red letter day in the history of Tamil Nadu cricket. I am overjoyed to announce the team name and unveil its logo amongst lots of cricketing greats of the state who have played cricket with distinction," Srinivasan, who is also the treasurer of the BCCI, added.

Srinivasan also made it clear about the team composition saying that there would be eight foreign players in the team with four of them playing in the eleven.

According to the IPL’s mandatory guideline, each team can have a minimum of 16 players while maximum is left over teams to decide.

"Chennai Super Kings plan to have 23 players in their ranks," said Srinivasan. He also confirmed that all the seven home matches would be played at the MA Chidambaram stadium.

The Chennai team players will be known after the much-awaited auction of foreign players on Wednesday in Mumbai like every other franchisee holders.

A total of six sets, 13 players in each set, will be open for at the auction with USD five million as the limit on each team's expenditure for purchasing the players. The IPL has also in its guidelines that each team should have a minimum of four under-22 cricketers.