Who Is Kavya Maran? Net Worth, Career And Why SRH Owner Is Trending After Abrar Ahmed Signing in The Hundred 2026 Auction

178

SunRisers Hyderabad owner Kavya Maran, who also owns the cricket team’s sister franchise SunRisers Eastern Cape and SunRisers Leeds has been facing criticism for acquiring Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed in The Hundred Men’s 2026 Auction held on March 12, Thursday. Kavya has been facing backlash due to the SunRisers Leeds purchasing Abrar since the SunRisers Hyderabad holds a stake of it.

Who is Kavya Maran?

Kavya Maran, who has been heavily in the news in the last couple of hours or so, was born on November 3, 1991 and is currently aged 34. She is currently the Executive Director of SUN TV Network Limited and the daughter of Kalanithi Maran, who happens to be the chairman and founder of the SUN Group. Kavya completed her graduation from Stella Maris College in Chennai, attaining a B.Com Degree. Later, the renowned businesswoman pursued MBA from NYU Stern School of Business, New York.

After completing her studies, Kavya returned to Chennai and became part of the Sun Group. She is currently the Head of the Group’s growing presence in professional sports that includes SunRisers Hyderabad, SunRisers Eastern Cape and SunRisers Leeds. With the IPL Governing Council terminating Deccan Chargers for breaching the contract terms in September 2012, Sun TV Network bid for the franchise and it got re-branded as the SunRisers Hyderabad.

She was awarded the Face and Force behind SunRisers Hyderabad in January 2024 at the Devi Awards. In 2023, Kavya featured in the List of ‘100 Women Achievers of India’, thereby becoming the youngest businesswoman to be etched on it. Her net worth is reportedly over ₹400 crore.

Section of fans call for SRH’s boycott after Kavya Maran acquires Abrar Ahmed

Four IPL franchises bought stake in The Hundred, with SunRisers Hyderabad buying 100% of Northern Superchargers, Lucknow Super Giants buying 70% of Manchester Originals, Delhi Capitals purchasing 40% of Southern Brave and finally Mumbai Indians buying 49% of Oval Invincibles. Hence, eyes were on whether these four franchises would go for Pakistani players during the auction, while there were reports circulating around Pakistan players getting ‘shadow banned’.

Although Birmingham Pheonix acquiring Usman Tariq for £140,000 didn’t attract criticism since it has no IPL stake, SunRisers invited plenty of it for purchasing Abrar for ₹2.34 crore. Abrar and Usman were the only Pakistani cricketers to be sold in the auction. Notably, Abrar came under fire for his controversial social media post mocking the Indian Army after Operation Sindoor.

During IPL 2026, the SunRisers could face plenty of backlash from a section of fans in the stadiums.