Page 274 - IPL1

T

he elegant city of Hyderabad is famed for its unique
combination of cultures. Founded by Mohammed Quli Shah, a
Muslim sultan of the 16th Century, it brings together some fine
Islamic architecture with what is now a predominantly Hindu
population. In cricketing terms, Hyderabad’s team for the IPL
– known as the Deccan Chargers – appeared to have pulled off
a similar trick. The two great modern powers of the game are
Australia and India, and by signing Andrew Symonds and Adam
Gilchrist, the Chargers managed to snap up the two outstanding
performers of Australia’s limited-overs team. After the
controversies during India’s tour Down Under at the beginning of
the year, there was some speculation that Australian cricketers
– and Symonds in particular – might be less appealing when the

IPL auction came around. Not a bit of it. Symonds sold for the
astonishing figure of US$1.35million – more than any other non-
Indian in the competition – while Gilchrist also raised $700,000.

The cold logic behind these astronomical figures could not be
denied. Since Symonds came of age at the 2003 World Cup, he
had been the most dominant figure in the one-day international
game. His favourite bit of coaching advice is “See it and hit it,
mate”, and he rarely fails to apply this simple theory during his
spectacular visits to the crease. Few players embodied Australia’s
swaggering self-assurance as perfectly as he did. Gilchrist, too,
had been at the heart of Australia’s dominance of the major
one-day tournaments for the past decade. No-one responded
better to the big stage: in three appearances in World Cup finals,
Gilchrist scored 54, 57 and – a squash ball placed in his batting
glove to aid his grip – 149 against Sri Lanka in 2007.

But the two hard-hitting Australians were not the only eye-
catching names in a squad that appeared to have all the batting
ingredients to cause mayhem, yet which ultimately finished
bottom of the eight-team group with just two wins to their
name. The gloriously unpredictable Pakistani Shahid Afridi once
hit a one-day international in 37 deliveries and was expected
to unleash his fireworks once more, while great deeds were
expected of South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs, whose CV boasted
a one-day innings of 175 against Australia, not to mention six
sixes in an over during the 2007 World Cup. The unsung New
Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris would provide runs at the

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