The appointment, which comes in to effect immediately, will pitchfork the duo as incharge of the complete gamut of activities under the IMG/TWI banner in the region, including organising and implementing domestic and international sports events, client management and servicing, the full range of television production and distribution activities and corporate representation and consultancy practices.

``I am pleased that two motivated young men have risen within IMG to take over as joint managing directors. They have had first-hand experience in India and south Asia for several years now. I am confident that they will excel in their new roles,'' said IMG founder Mark McCormack.

Hutton came to India in 1994 after working on soccer World Cup in the US and his first job was to create a series of domestic cricket programmes for ESPN.