IPL 2009 - Deccan Chargers (Captain - Adam Gilchrist)
The side that had ended last in the IPL table in 2008 dramatically turned around their fortunes through Gilchrist's captaincy and high impact performances from Andrew Symonds, Dwayne Smith and Rohit Sharma. The side scraped through the league matches to just qualify (4th team in the league table - but with the second-highest impact) for the knock-outs losing 3 of their last 5 league matches and both their last 2 matches. Once they qualified, Gilchrist led from the front in the semi-final against the highest impact side in the tournament to take them to the final.- Deccan Chargers had the 2nd highest impact batting unit in the tournament at the end of the league phase. They had the highest Strike Rate IMPACT and were also the most consistent batting unit in the tournament till then. Deccan's batting revolved around 4 foreign players - Andrew Symonds, Dwayne Smith, Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs. Symonds, Smith and Gilchrist were also the key batsmen when it came to Strike Rate IMPACT for the team - a crucial element in T20 cricket.
- Deccan Chargers had the highest impact bowling unit in the tournament at the end of the league phase. They had the highest impact team on all bowling parameter and were also the most consistent bowling unit in the tournament at the end of the league phase. Their bowling revolved around performances from Fidel Edwards, RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha and even a vital contribution from Rohit Sharma.
- They had the 2nd highest Team IMPACT in the tournament at the end of the league phase behind Delhi Daredevils, yet again. Eerily, it is they, the eventual champions, who met Delhi Daredevils in the semi-finals, where brilliant performances from Ryan Harris and Gilchrist ensured that their team reached the final.
- 6 of the Deccan Chargers' players were high impact players (IMPACT of 2.5 or more) in the tournament at the end of the league phase - the highest for any team. Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Dwayne Smith and Rohit Sharma led the pack while Scott Styris and Chaminda Vaas contributed in between. Symonds and Gilchrist went on the deliver tournament-defining performances while Gibbs, Ojha (both in the final) and Harris (semi-final) also delivered tournament-defining performances for their team.
