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was left to Rohit Sharma, who turned 21 during the course of
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               the tournament, and – in the second half of the competition –
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Venugopal Rao to hold the batting together. Sharma turned out
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               to be one of the discoveries of the tournament. Not only did he
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               rarely fail – only three of his 12 innings ended in single figures
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               – but he scored his runs with such panache that the national
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               selectors  ended  up  naming  him  in  India’s  Test  squad  for  the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               series  in  Sri  Lanka  shortly  afterwards.  His  skills  with  the  bat
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               were never displayed more fully than during an unbeaten 76 off
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               42 balls against Mohali. It was just a shame that the next best
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               score was Laxman’s 48; no one else passed 13 and the Chargers
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               lost by seven wickets. Rao grew in stature as the tournament
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               went on after playing in just three of the opening seven games.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               His 71 not out off 42 balls might have resulted in victory over
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Kolkata Knight Riders had he been playing for a more confident
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               side capable to seizing the tight moments which limited-overs

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               cricket specialises in.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               If the bowling had fired, the Chargers may have recovered some
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               of  the  ground  lost  by  their  batsmen.  But  Sri  Lanka’s  slippery
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               left-arm opening bowler Chaminda Vaas was left out after just
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               three matches, despite claiming two for nine in his side’s opener
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               against Kolkata, and although Singh – who had bowled so well
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               during India’s famous Test-series win in England in 2007 – took
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               as  many  as  15  wickets,  he  went  for  a  surprisingly  expensive
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               8.6 runs an over, which never allowed his captain the control
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               necessary to win Twenty20 matches on a regular basis. Afridi
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               chipped in with a few wickets with his brisk top-spinners and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Styris  kept  things  as  tight  as  anyone  with  his  medium-paced
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               dobbers, but taken as a whole the attack lacked the bite and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               penetration available to other teams. In both suits of the game,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Deccan Chargers did not do what it promised on the tin.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Hyderabad  used  to  be  the  capital  of  one  of  India’s  greatest
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               empires. At the start of the tournament, the feeling was that the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               talent assembled could help its cricketers recapture in sporting
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               form some of its old glory. It was one of the mysteries of the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               inaugural IPL tournament that Deccan Chargers fell well short
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               of expectation.

















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