Champions League T20 - Know the Teams - Deccan Chargers

When the team was announced, everyone picked the Deccan Chargers as the favorites to win IPL-1. Big names like Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi, Chaminda Vaas, VVS Laxman and the T20 World Cup winning team members Rohit Sharma and RP Singh being the reason for this thinking. However, the team finished as wooden spoonists inthe first edition, a key parameter being their inability to win a single "home" match. With the IPL-2 being played in South Africa, the Chargers did not have to worry about their dismal home record, and coupled with a captaincy change, with Gilchrist replacing Laxman, the team went from strength to strength to beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who finished one rung above them in IPL-1, in a well contested finals, thereby fulfilling their potential, albeit a year later than expected.

Match Record:

Matches Played - 30
Matches Won - 11
Matches Lost - 19

Players to watch out for:

Batsmen -
Adam Gilchrist, is a big match player and is awesome to watch when on song. One of the reasons for the team's success in IPL-2 was his ability to lead from the front; Rohit Sharma was in the running for the top batting honors in IPL-1 but did not have such a good run in the second season; Andrew Symonds can be destructive as he showed in a match against the Rajasthan Royals in IPL-1. However, he went from hero, after scoring a blazing century, to villain, in a matter of 20 overs, after allowing Shane Warne to milk his bowling, thereby handing the Royals an unexpected victory; VVS Laxman and Venugopal Rao can turn on the heat too.

Bowlers -
RP Singh is the teams main strike bowler, without a doubt. He has been consistent in both the IPL seasons and can be relied to be economic while also providing the team with early breakthroughs; Pragyan Ojha may well have been the spinner of the IPL seasons, even in the presence of more reputed and experienced spinners; Rohit Sharma made up for the lack of batting form in IPL-2 by being the surprise part-time bowler of the tournament, claiming a hat-trick in the bargain as icing on the cake.