Sundar Raman
Chief Operating Officer, Indian Premier League
Chief Executive Officer, Champions League Twenty20

Sundar is the Chief Operating Officer of Indian Premier League and the Chief Executive of Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20).  In this role, Sundar is responsible for providing strategic direction and operational focus to both the brands - IPL and CLT20.  He has a sound understanding of the business of sports, and is responsible for developing the commercial structures involving Indian Cricket.  He has been with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) since the inception of IPL in early 2008, and has been instrumental in shaping the IPL brand, commercial structures, and in the execution of the tournament, in some cases despite near impossible timelines. Prior to IPL, Sundar was the Managing Director of the flagship media company of the WPP Group Plc, MindShare for India and South Asia.  In this role, Sundar was responsible for growing MindShare’s business in India with a primary focus on building the MindShare brand, driving partnerships and strategic alliances and developing the capabilities of the organisation in India.

Sundar has rich experience in the media and entertainment business, and has led the strategic media thinking for some of the biggest and best businesses in South Asia, including Unilever, PepsiCo, Motorola, Amex, and GSK.

He has a sound understanding of the changing customers, brand and media landscape and their growing interdependence.  He has received accolades from various industry bodies for the original and innovative thinking on brands, including Cannes nomination, and Asian Marketing effectiveness awards, amongst others.

Sundar is an Applied Science graduate and a Postgraduate in Communications and Advertising.  Sundar is an ardent sports fan and a keen golfer.  He likes to travel and read in his free time.

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Indian Premier League (IPL)
www.iplt20.com

In late June 2007, two men met in an English house, not far from the rain drenched Wimbledon Championships, to discuss a very different sporting event.  Lalit Modi, Vice-President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) brainstormed with Andrew Wildblood of the International Management Group (IMG), the sports management giants.  In April 2008, the maiden IPL tournament that Mr. Modi had conceived and developed, was under way.

February 2008 saw the frantic player auction that created a media frenzy.  Among the bidders were some of India’s richest and most powerful names, from industrialists to film stars, adding to the event’s lustre.  As the sums on offer began to emerge – USD 1.5m for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, USD 1.35m for Andrew Symonds, USD 950,000 for the inexperienced Ishant Sharma – cricket raised its eyebrows, held its breath and braced itself for a new era.

The opening ceremony was like nothing the sport had seen before and would not have been out of place as a curtain raiser for the Olympic Games.  And much to everyone’s satisfaction, the cricket lived up to all expectations.

The public’s imagination was caught even before Warne’s Rajasthan Royals embarked on their competition-defining run.  Helped by the presence at matches – and, invariably on the next morning’s front pages – of Bollywood stars such as Shah Rukh Khan, owner of the Kolkata franchise, and Preity Zinta, co-owner of the Kings XI Punjab, the early matches of the IPL attracted huge television audiences.

After the spectacular success of the inaugural tournament, news that the 2009 DLF IPL would have to be played overseas was met with some resistance.  But right from the magnificent opening ceremony to the closing festivities, viewers stayed hooked to the mega event that saw the Deccan Chargers led by Adam Gilchrist take top honours.  In the words of Mr. Modi, “It's been a success thanks to the people of South Africa.”

SportsPro magazine has published the world’s first ranking of sports properties in its July issue.  The newest property in the list is the Indian Premier League, which is valued at USD 1.6 billion - a staggering achievement for a two-year-old property.

Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20)
www.clt20.com

The Champions League Twenty20 brings together domestic leagues from seven nations vying for the top spot and a cash prize of USD 6 million this October in India.  The winner will take home USD 2.5 million - the total prize money for the World T20 held in England earlier this year.

The first edition was to take place in December 2008 in India, but was postponed following terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November as a mark of solidarity with the victims and later cancelled.  It was rescheduled for 8-23 October 2009.

The tournament brings together some of the best talent in world cricket like Adam Gilchrist, Virender Sehwag, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo and Ajantha Mendis.  It will feature 12 teams as opposed to the 8 penciled in originally, marking a quantum leap for the tournament.  It will be broadcast worldwide by ESPN STAR Sports who bagged the rights at a whopping USD 975 million for a period of 10 years.
The teams are: DLF IPL champions Deccan Chargers, runners-up Royal Challengers Bangalore and third placed Delhi Daredevils (India), Speedblitz New South Wales Blues and VB Victorian Bushrangers (Australia), Nashua Cape Cobras and Gestetner Diamond  Eagles (South Africa), State Otago Volts (New Zealand), Wayamba (Sri Lanka), Trinidad & Tobago (West Indies) and the winner and runner-up of England’s domestic Twenty20 competition to be announced in August.

CLT20 will begin with a round robin format with 4 pools of 3 teams.  The top 2 teams from each pool will advance to the knockout stages.  A total of 19 matches will be played over a 16-day period.

This is the first time ever that domestic leagues from different nations will lock horns in a prestigious competition that can be viewed as the World Cup of club cricket.  It is a platform for domestic/club teams to perform at the highest level preparing players for the next step – representing, or performing even better for, their countries.

The CLT20 competition is chaired by Lalit Modi, who is also the Chairman and Commissioner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Vice-President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).