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IPL 2010 Team Preview: Deccan Chargers

Written by: admin on 6th March 2010

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IPL 2009 witnessed a fairy tale ending as the two teams that occupied the bottom two positions after the inaugural season in 2008 battled it out for the Iconic Twenty20 trophy in South Africa. It was the Deccan Chargers, the team that managed just two wins in the whole of IPL Season 1, who got the better of Royal Challengers Bangalore in a topsy turvy final in Johannesburg. It was an amazing turnaround for the Chargers from being rock bottom after the first season to claiming the title in the second. With IPL returning home to India, will the Aussie pair of Adam Gilichrist and Darren Lehman weave their magic once again and help the Chargers script another memorable tournament?

In the second season held in South Africa in 2009, Captain Gilichrist scored close to 500 runs, with Herschelle Gibbs and Rohit Sharma providing him good support with a run tally of in excess of 350 each for the entire tournament. Gilichrist and Rohit Sharma have been the Chargers’ main protagonists for major part of two seasons and another successful run to the final will surely depend on how well these two men can bat in IPL 3.0. Gibbs, who was a part of the South African ODI team that lost the series 1 – 2 to India in India last month, wasn’t in the greatest of touch and he would be hoping to rediscover his form when the Chargers begin on their title defence.

The addition of the “Bullet from Barbados” – Kemar Roach, who can consistently clock speeds in excess of 150kmh, might prove to be the difference between the Chargers’ team that last played in India and the one that’ll set out to defend their title this year. The 21-year old hurls the ball at the rate of knots and has been touted as the most promising fast bowler to have come out of the West Indies in recent times. He burst onto the international scene after his fierce duel with Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting in the second test in Perth during West Indies’ tour Down Under last year which resulted in the latter being hospitalized after being hit by a Roach thunderbolt on the elbow. For a seriously quick bowler like Roach, the control that he possesses in delivering both yorkers and bouncers with ease is truly phenomenal. The batsmen who’d face Roach in IPL 3.0, better watch out for the West Indian tear away fast bowler as he says, “I want to bowl as consistently and as fast as possible and try to bowl what the batsmen don’t expect.”

The Australian pair of Gilichrist and the intimidating Andrew Symonds pick themselves as two of the overseas players for the defending IPL Champions while West Indian duo, Kemar Roach and Dwayne Smith will in all probability make up the quota of four overseas players. But, with Ryan Harris and the West Indian pair unavailable for the initial games, the veteran Sri Lankan Chaminda Vaas looks set to get a taste of the third edition of cricket’s Million Dollar Baby, at least for a couple of matches. Gibbs looks to be the most obvious choice for the fourth and final spot. But it wouldn’t some as a surprise if Captain Gilly and Coach Darren Lehman experiment by choosing fellow Aussie Mitchell Ross Marsh, who captained the Australian U-19 World Cup winning team, ahead of the misfiring Gibbs.

As the season moves on, it’ll be interesting to see who the Chargers actually leave out on the bench. It looks highly unlikely that the hard hitting Symonds will be left out of the team, unless he gets injured. So that leaves two positions that need to be filled in. Having spent a staggering USD 720,000 on Roach in the 2010 auction, DC are almost certain to give the West Indian an extended run in the tournament. However, Harris must be on his toes to grab onto to any opportunity that might present itself before him. Given the all round abilities of Dwayne Smith, Gibbs might be the unlucky one to sit out for most part of the cricket’s glittering event.

While the destructive batting line-up that the Deccan Chargers boasts of is undoubtedly their biggest asset, the team has rarely got a useful contribution from their Indian contingent with the exception of Sharma. VVS Laxman has more often than not looked out of place in this format, while Venugopal Rao hasn’t really done enough in the opportunities that he has got. T Suman though appears to be a useful prospect and might get the nod at the top of the order.

Though their batting packs a punch, the Chargers’ bowling looks far from capable of running through a team. Fidel Edwards has been ruled out of this season with knee surgery, but his compatriot Kemar Roach will do his best to ensure that Edwards’ absence is not felt. Indian team discard RP Singh was the cornerstone of the Deccan attack last year, winning the Purple Cap (awarded to the leading wicket taker) with 23 sticks. The 24-year old left arm quick also picked up 15 wickets the year before making him a bit of expert at this form of the game. RP will be keen on using this opportunity to impress the Indian selectors and earn a ticket to Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies.
Another fringe player hoping to make an impression is young left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who carries the burden of the spin department on his shoulders. The third choice Indian spinner has had a fruitful couple of seasons in the Indian Premier League picking up 29 wickets in 28 games. Amazingly he concedes runs at less than 7 an over, giving him an average that is even more impressive than RP Singh. With the pitches in India known to assist the spinners, he will have a much greater role to play than he had to in South Africa last year.

To keep in with the IPL regulations, each franchise has selected a 23 man squad, which can be changed by furnishing a notice 48 hours prior to any match, from its list of registered players. Following is the initial squad put up by the Deccan Chargers:

Squad of 23
Batsmen: Adam Gilchrist (C & WK), Herschelle Gibbs, Mitchell Ross Marsh, Azhar Bilakhia, Ravi Teja, VVS Laxman, Venugopal Rao, Bodapati Sumanth, Anirudh Singh, Tirumalasetti Suman, Monish Mishra, Arjun Yadav
All Rounders: Andrew Symonds, Dwayne Smith, Rohit Sharma, Ashish Reddy, Rahul Sharma
Bowlers: Chaminda Vaas, Kemar Roach, Ryan Harris, Harmeet Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Rudra Pratap Singh

Support Staff
Coach: Darren Lehmann, Assistant Coach: Mike Young, Kanwaljit Singh, Physiotherapist: Sean Slattery, Fitness Expert: Steve Smith, Performance Analyst: Unni Krishan

Player Availability
As the West Indies are involved in an ODI series with Zimbabwe back home, the Caribbean pair of Kemar Roach and Dwayne Smith would join the Chargers’ squad in time for their team’s third game against Kings XI Punjab on March 19th. And with Australia locking horns with their Trans-Tasmanian rivals New Zealand in a 5 match ODI series followed by a two match test series, the IPL franchises with players from either side may have to wait till as late as April 1st when the second test ends. Ryan Harris, who is a part of Aussie ODI setup, would be available for selection for the Chargers only from the Kings XI game onwards.

Likely Starting XI: Gilchrist (C & WK), Gibbs, Suman, Symonds, Rohit Sharma, Venugopal Rao, Azhar Bilakhia, Harmeet Singh, Ojha, Vaas, R P Singh

Players to Watch
Adam Gilichrist: The Aussie wicket-keeper batsman holds the key for Chargers. It was his brilliant batting coupled with shrewd leadership that enabled the Chargers conquer IPL-2 and the onus will again be on him to lead his side from the front. Gilly is the Chargers’ top scorer in the Indian Premier League with 931 runs in 30 matches with a strike rate of 145.
Rohit Sharma: He seems to have that extra time to play shots which is a hallmark of great players. Sharma had a wonderful IPL in South Africa contributing not just with the bat but also with the ball. He scored 362 runs in 16 matches and picked up 11 wickets that included a hatrick against Mumbai Indians. Though Sharma has been excellent for the Chargers in both the campaigns, he has failed to translate that form in Indian colors. The Deccan Chargers, however, will be hoping that their youngster fires once again for them in IPL 3.0.
Andrew Symonds (Dark Horse): The former Aussie all-rounder has dropped out of the limelight owing to issues related to non-cricketing matters. Despite not playing for the country, the burly Queenslander can still prove out to be the trump card for the Chargers. His brute force and impeccable agility in the field make him one of the best players in the shortest format of the game.

It has been far from an ideal preparation for the Chargers as the agitations in Hyderabad for a separate state of Telangana have crept their way into cricket. While the debate of whether sports and politics should cross lines rages on, its ill effects have started to take a toll on the cricket crazy Hyderabad fans. Owing to the political unrest in the region, the 2009 Champions were forced, by the IPL, to schedule their home fixtures outside Andhra Pradesh for this season. Later, when the Chargers threatened to pull out of IPL-3, the IPL Governing council granted two matches in the Chargers’ catchment area of Cuttack with further promises of holding a couple of matches if the situation improves. But the team owned by the Deccan Chronicle media group might consider the recent developments a blessing in disguise given the fact that they have never won a game in front of their home crowd, be it in the opening season of IPL or the inaugural edition of the Champions League T20 last year.

All said and done, the Deccan Chargers will be keen to kick-off their IPL title defense on a high. They open their campaign at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai against the Kolkata Knight Riders on March 12th. DC skipper Gilichrist will have fond memories to take to Mumbai as the last time his team played at that venue; he set the stadium alight with the fastest century (42 balls) in the IPL en route to help chase down a 150 odd score in 12 overs.
The Chargers then travel to M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, which is only the second ground in India where they have tasted victory. After a couple of home games against Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils in their Cuttack, they travel to Ahmedabad to take on the inaugural IPL Champions Rajasthan Royals. The match against Mumbai in Navi Mumbai on 28th March will be an interesting one to watch as it has been scheduled as a home tie for Chargers.

While the Chargers do have a poor record against most teams in the IPL, including the Kings XI Punjab and the Delhi Daredevils, both of whom they have never beaten in the League stage, they did come away with the biggest prize of them all last season. That too, by upsetting the odds against the Daredevils in the semi-finals in South Africa. What will be key for Deccan is the start they have to the tournament, and should they lose their opening two games due to a considerably weakened squad, they might just find themselves turning into everyone’s favourite whipping boys once again.

Fixtures
Scheduled Home Games
Mar 12, 2010 Friday, Vs Kolkata Knight Riders (Navi Mumbai), 8 pm
Mar 19, 2010 Friday, Vs Kings XI Punjab (Cuttack), 8pm
Mar 21, 2010 Sunday, Vs Delhi Daredevils (Cuttack), 4pm
Mar 28, 2010 Sunday, Vs Mumbai Indians (Navi Mumbai), 8 pm
Apr 05, 2010 Monday, Vs Rajasthan Royals (Nagpur), 8 pm
Apr 10, 2010 Saturday, Vs Chennai Super Kings (Nagpur), 4 pm
Apr 12, 2010 Monday, Vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (Nagpur), 8 pm

Scheduled Away Games
Mar 14, 2010 Sunday, Vs Chennai Super Kings, 8 pm
Mar 26, 2010 Friday, Vs Rajasthan Royals (Ahmedabad), 8 pm
Apr 01, 2010 Thursday, Vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 8 pm
Apr 03, 2010 Saturday, Vs Mumbai Indians, 8 pm
Apr 08, 2010 Thursday, Vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, 8 pm
Apr 16, 2010 Friday, Vs Kings XI Punjab (Dharamsala), 8pm
Apr 18, 2010 Sunday, Vs Delhi Daredevils, 8 pm

File Photograph Copyright: Gayatri Naik

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