Tom Moody named Hyderabad's IPL coach

Tom Moody, the former Sri Lanka coach and Australia allrounder, has been appointed coach of the Hyderabad IPL franchise, which was bought over by the Sun TV network in October. Former national selection chief Kris Srikkanth will be its mentor and VVS Laxman its mentor-ambassador.

The team's logo was also unveiled at a ceremony in Hyderabad, held two days after the franchise was christened Hyderabad Sunrisers. While both Moody and Srikkanth, the Chennai Super Kings brand ambassador for the first three IPL seasons, were in attendance, Laxman skipped it due to the death of a close relative.

"This is a proud moment for us as we unveil our new name and logo and we are sure that the team will be successful in the forthcoming season of IPL 2013," Moody said. "We are keenly looking forward to it and our game will stand testimony to the competition we will give to other teams."

Moody has plenty of coaching experience. He was in charge of the Sri Lankan national team for two years culminating in their run to the World Cup final in 2007, and also oversaw Kings XI Punjab in the first two seasons of the IPL. He has also had coaching stints at Worcestershire and his home state of Western Australia. Moody worked closely with Kumar Sangakkara, who is expected to lead Sunrisers in the next IPL season, during his time at Sri Lanka and Kings XI.

The team also includes Dale Steyn, the premier fast bowler, and Srikkanth believes that with the current core group and few additions before the the next season, Sunrisers would be able to regroup.

"We are very keen on [Ambati] Rayudu. He is a brilliant cricketer. He has been in the 'A' team for the last two years," Srikkanth said. "If he comes into auction, it is very good. Same with the case of Dwayne Smith, who is released by Pune Warrior. The Pakistan players may come into auction. Indian cricketers who made their debut, will come into auction. We know what kind of combination we need for the new season. We want couple of good all-rounders.''

List of 20 players retained by Sunrisers: Indian: Abhishek Jhunjunwala, Akash Bhandari, Akshath Reddy, Amit Mishra, Anand Rajan, Ankit Sharma, Bharat Chipli, Biplab Samantray, Shikhar Dhawan, Veer Pratap Singh, Parthiv Patel, Ashish Reddy, DB Ravi Teja, Ishant Sharma.

Foreign players: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Cameron White, Dale Steyn, Chris Lynn, Jean-Paul Duminy, Juan Theron.