Sunrisers Hyderabad plan to paint IPL 2017 orange with their fan army

In a unique initiative for fan engagement ahead of the 10th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have coined a unique name for their team — the Orange Army. Sunrisers play Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the opening match of IPL 2017 Wednesday evening

India, too, can now boast of an Orange Army. No, nothing to do with the Dutch and their Oranje followers; this is quintessentially Indian by nature.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have promoted the ‘Orange Army’ campaign on almost all social media platforms ahead of their opening match of the 2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The campaign has been hugely popular so far with fans posing for the camera wearing an orange jersey to having one’s face painted in the colour, there have been a number of replies on the threads on Twitter and Facebook. (Twitter.com)

Ahead of the 10th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the name has been adopted by defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for engaging their fans before the start of the tournament on Wednesday, when they play Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the opening match of IPL 2017 Wednesday evening. (Live streaming: IPL 2017 opening ceremony, Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore)

It’s a unique initiative put up by the franchise to use the colour, which is also a part of the team jersey in a fan-engagement programme, something no other team has done so far.

The franchise has promoted the campaign on almost all social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, and has been hugely popular so far. With the presence of stars such as Yuvraj Singh on the roster, fans have been thronging at SRH events and campaigns and so success of the Orange Army was more-or-less a given.

When you have a veteran bowling legend and a clean hitter, what do you get? @YUVSTRONG12 @iamjavagal #Magic #IPL2017 pic.twitter.com/53vGrQGzSI

— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) April 4, 2017

Get ready to live in the now! It's the #IPL2017 countdown, and we're as 🔥 up as you to witness the #OrangeArmy rise to new challenges. pic.twitter.com/7hEgFRyTEK

— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) April 4, 2017

From posing for the camera wearing an orange jersey to having one’s face painted in the colour, there have been a number of replies on the threads.

A few out-of-the-box selfies even included fans with orange popsicles in their hand or a picture of their tongue infused in the colour.

While teams across the globe often choose a specific colour to represent them, the practice is in its nascent stages in India. Most of the previous campaigns of the Indian Premier League have been around the city or the region the franchise represents with slogans of “Ami Kolkata we rule”, “Halla Bol”, and etc. quote popular among the masses. KingsXI Punjab has their hashtag as: #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi

However, the colour trend seems to have finally hit the Indian market and might soon be a distinguishing factor like the All Whites of Real Madrid or the Blues of Chelsea.

However, since the IPL teams tend to tinker with their jersey colours quite often, it would be difficult to embrace the idea of linking a specific colour for their teams.