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The Deccan Chargers have come a long way since being bottom of the Indian Premier League in 2008 to Winners in 2009 and making it to the semi-finals last season. VVS Laxman was a disappointment as captain in the first season but Adam Gilchrist steadied their ship brilliantly taking them to title glory. It came as a surprise for many when the Deccan Chargers decided not to retain any of their players and might have missed a trick because of that, having missed out on many quality Indian players in the auction. Their campaign begins at home when they host the Rajasthan Royals on 9^th April.

The Chargers seemed pretty cautious in the auction and looking at their squad, it seems heavy on the bowling side and a bit too light on batting. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that they possess the best bowling attack in this year’s IPL with Dale Steyn, the best fast bowler in the world, leading the attack and pacemen Ishant Sharma and Manpreet Gony to share the new ball. Their greatest weapon is their spin attack with leggie Amit Mishra and left arm Pragyan Ojha. Both these spinners are amongst the top 10 wicket takers in the IPL. While Mishra already has an IPL hattrick under his belt, Ojha won the Purple Cap last season. Their batting will be their major concern although they have potent overseas batsmen of the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, Kevin Pietersen, Jean Paul Duminy, Michael Lumb and Cameron White. Their surprise pick was Daniel Christian who was bought for a whopping 900,000 US Dollars. The Chargers will be expecting a lot from him and after spending that kind of money are certain to pick the South Australia and Hampshire allrounder.

Batting:

Adam Gilchrist will be substituted by Kumar Sangakkara this season as the captain of Deccan Chargers and also as the anchor of the side. Adam Gilchrist didn’t enjoy a healthy batting line-up last year with only Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds being the real strength of their side. Sangakkara faces a similar situation this year having just Shikhar Dhawan as a real danger for the opposition to think about,when talking of their Indian batting strength. Sangakkara will however, be more than happy with the overseas batsmen and his more than capable bowling attack.

Shikhar Dhawan will be one definite opener and we might see a young Indian there to accompany him. Bharat Chipli, Ishank Jaggi (both played for Bangalore last season) and Sunny Sohal are the three good options they have on hand to open the innings. Jaggi has had a fantastic domestic season and is one of the upcoming talents. Chipli and Sohal have been around for sometime but haven’t been able to breakthrough at the next level yet. If they choose to play Michael Lumb or Kevin Pietersen they could well open the innings too.

Kumar Sangakkara would definitely bat at 3 and hence will be able to steer the innings in the direction he would want. Sangakkara played very well in the recently concluded World Cup and was the highest scorer for Kings XI Punjab scoring 1009 runs, his new franchise will be hoping that he can replicate that success. In him the Chargers have a great leader and someone the team can look upto.

With so many foreign batsmen to contend with, they will surely face a problem in selecting the perfect combination. Kevin Pietersen, Jean Paul Duminy and Cameron White, all provide some terrific options. JP Duminy might be given the nod ahead of the other two, having played very well for Mumbai Indians in the past seasons, and his off-spinners will be very handy on these Indian tracks. White is yet to really prove himself in IPL and his best score has been just 31 after playing 15 matches, but he does possess the quality of being a match winner on his day.

The above batsmen will have to ensure they stay in the middle till the end of the innings as there wouldn’t be many to follow. Dwarka Ravi Teja might hit a few blows, Daniel Christian, if he plays, can hit the ball long distances. To complete the batting line-up a few young Indians could be given a chance and they will have a great opportunity to set the stage ablaze with their talent.

Bowling:

They had the two highest wicket taking bowlers in the IPL in the form of RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha picking up 51 and 50 wickets respectively. Both had won the Purple Cap, the former in 2009 and the latter in 2010. They managed to buy back Ojha but have replaced RP Singh with Ishant Sharma.

The leader of the Chargers’ attack will be Dale Steyn, whose devastating pace the world knows too well. He is the world’s No.1 bowler in Test Matches and is starting to build his grip on ODIs and T20s as well. He played for Bangalore last season and did very well, picking up 15 wickets conceding runs at under 7 per over. He is a mighty competitor and hungry for wickets, as he showed in the game against India in the World Cup when he turned the game on its head, by himself.

Another South African, Rusty Theron is in the side but he would rarely get a chance due to the 4 foreign players rule, even though he has played very well in the Domestic T20 circuit.

Ishant Sharma and Manpreet Gony will be the two Indian pacemen to support Steyn and will look to pick wickets with the new ball. Ishant will be raring to go and will try to make a comeback in the Indian side if he can put up a good show. Gony was a product of the IPL. He came to the fore when he bowled very well under Dhoni for the Chennai Super Kings, which incidentally earned him an India cap as well.

Daniel Christian will be a good option on the sluggish Indian pitches. He was very successful in the Champions League last season and has the knack of picking wickets with his subtle variation in pace.

Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra will complete the line-up as the two quality spinners, and will provide great variety to the side. Both have enjoyed bowling in the IPL and had made a mark on the Indian Selectors’ mind on this very platform. Ojha with his ability to bowl in good areas consistently and control his flight, picks up wickets very often. He is only the second bowler to pick up 50 wickets in the IPL. Mishra too has been brilliant in IPL having played for the Delhi Daredevils in the first three seasons. He would enjoy any sort of track and will be a very important part of Sangakkara’s brigade in the quest for ultimate glory.

Squad:

Batsmen: Shikhar Dhawan, Kevin Pietersen, Cameron White, JP Duminy, Michael Lumb, Chris Lynn, Ishank Jaggi, Jaydev Shah, Sunny Sohal, Arjun Yadav, Bharat Chipli. Dwarka Ravi Teja, Kedar Devdhar

All Rounders: Daniel Christian, Ashish Reddy,

Wicket-Keepers: Kumar Sangakkara

Bowlers: Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, Manpreet Gony, Dale Steyn, Juan Theron, Akash Bhandari, Anand Rajan, Ankit Sharma, Ishan Malhotra, Harmeet Singh

Support Staff:

Head Coach: Darren Lehmann, Manager: Goolam Rajah, Assistant Coach: Kanwaljit Singh, Assistant Coach (Fielding): Mike Young, Team Doctor: Dr.Mohammed Zahoorul Hussain,

Physiotherapist: Dr Sean Slattery, Team Manager: Paul Skinner, Fitness Expert: Steve Smith, Trainer: David Bailey, Masseuse: Grant Baldwin

Likely Playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Kevin Pietersen, Kumar Sangakkara, JP Duminy, Bharat Chipli, Dwarka Ravi Teja, Daniel Christian, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, Dale Steyn

Players to watch:

Kumar Sangakkara: One of the most stylish and technically correct batsmen around today. With excellent performances in all forms of cricket, he was the perfect player for the Deccan Chargers to build the team around. He captained the Kings XI Punjab last season, but the team finished last. He has enjoyed some success in the IPL scoring 1009 runs in 37 matches at an average of just above 31. With Sangakkara playing at no.3, he can steer the innings with his will and his consistency can be a major factor for the success of the team.

Dale Steyn:Arguably the best swing bowler today with a wonderful record in both test and one-day cricket, but he has yet to prove himself in the shortest version of the game. He is a very handy bowler when on song and can rip through a side all by himself.

Schedule

Deccan Chargers kickstart their campaign on 9th April hosting Rajasthan Royals at their home ground in Hyderabad. Being Winners of the second edition they are facing the winners of the first edition and the fixture will definitely be an exciting contest with great talents coming together. They next face the Knightriders in Kolkata which might be a tough tie given the enormous crowd factor.

Their next two matches will be at Hyderabad against the Royal Challengers and Kings XI. Their home form has been lousy in past seasons and under Sangakkara they will hope to correct that fact.

They next travel to Delhi to face the Daredevils who make a tough opposition. After playing Mumbai Indians next at home they play two away games against Kochi Tuskers and Chennai Super Kings. Wins in these two games would give them a great advantage for the later stages of the tournament.

With six games to go, three at home and three away, they will have reached the business end of the tournament. They have three home games in a row against the Knightriders, Daredevils and Pune Warriors. They have to ensure a good performance in these games as they play their last three games away from home.

Deccan Chargers play their home game in Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium which has a capacity of 55,000. Being past winners would undoubtedly inspire the team and with a strong bowling attack we can expect this side·to have a great chance to make the top four by the end of the league stage.

Fixtures:

Schedule in Hyderabad:
9 April v/s Rajasthan Royals, 4pm
14 April v/s Royal Challengers Bangalore, 8pm
16 April v/s Kings XI Punjab, 8pm
24 April v/s Mumbai Indians, 4pm
3 May v/s Kolkata Knight Riders, 8pm
5 May v/s Delhi Daredevils, 8pm
10 May v/s Pune Warriors, 4pm

Schedule away from Hyderabad:
11 April v/s Kolkata Knight Riders at Kolkata, 8pm
19 April v/s Delhi Daredevils at Delhi, 4pm
27 April v/sKochi Tuskers Kerala at Kochi, 8pm
1 May v/s Chennai Super Kings at Chennai, 8pm
14 May v/s Mumbai Indians at Mumbai, 8pm
16 May v/s Pune Warriors at Navi Mumbai, 8pm
21 May v/s Kings XI Punjab at Dharamsala, 4pm