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The Deccan Chargers were one of the eight franchises that took part in the inaugural edition of Indian Premier League in 2008. However, unlike the other seven franchises, the Deccan Chargers are no longer part of the tournament. The IPL governing council terminated the franchise for breaching contract terms in October 2012. Sunrisers Hyderabad took their place in the league.
Deccan Chargers are the only discontinued team to have won an IPL trophy. They won the second edition in South Africa in 2009 by defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore in the finals.
Before the start of inaugural edition, many cricket pundits and fans considered Deccan Chargers as strong favorites to lift the trophy, since they had many match-winning players in their ranks who were capable of changing the course of the match in just a few overs. But, Deccan Chargers failed to live up to the expectations as they finished at the bottom of the points table
Deccan Chargers played their maiden IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders on 20th April 2008 at Edens Gardens and lost the match by 5 wickets in a low scoring encounter. Hence, let us look at the playing XI of Deccan Chargers that took the field in their maiden IPL encounter and where they are now
#1 Adam Gilchrist (WK)
Legendary Australian wicket-keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist opened the innings for Deccan Chargers in their maiden IPL match and scored 23 runs from 22 balls before being dismissed by Murali Kartik. Gilchrist was their best batsmen in the 2008 edition and finished the tournament as their highest run scorer with 436 runs from 14 matches at an average of 33.53 and a strike rate of 137.10.
Gilchrist played for Australia from 1996-2008 and was an integral member of Australia's ODI team which won 3 consecutive ICC ODI World Cups in 1999,2003 and 2007. Gilchrist is also regarded by many cricket pundits and experts as one of the greatest wicket-keeper batsmen to have played the game of cricket.
Gilchrist was part of Deccan Chargers franchise till 2010 and then played for Kings XI Punjab from 2011 to 2013. Currently, Gilchrist has a number of company directorships outside of cricket and works as a commentator and cricket analyst.
#2 Y Venugopal Rao
Venugopal Rao was the other opener in Deccan Chargers' maiden IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders. He was the first wicket to fall as he was dismissed for 14 by Ishant Sharma. Despite a poor opening game, Venugopal Rao had a decent IPL 2008 as he scored 288 runs from 11 matches at an average of 36 and a strike rate of 137.14.
Venugopal Rao started his cricket career playing for Andhra Pradesh in domestic matches and impressed Indian selectors with his First-class batting average of over 50 and List-A average of around 40. This earned him a call up to the Indian ODI side for the 2005 Indian Oil Cup and made his international debut against Sri Lanka on 30 July 2005.
However, due to poor batting performances, Venugopal Rao was unable to establish himself as a permanent member of the Indian team and played his last international match against West Indies in May 2006.
Despite not boasting of a great international career, Venugopal Rao holds a unique record of being the first Indian "super sub" in ODI cricket. In IPL apart from Deccan Chargers, Venugopal Rao also played for Delhi Capitals from 2011-2013 and Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014.
Currently, Venugopal Rao has made an entry into politics and is a member of Jana Sena party founded by Telugu actor and politician Pawan Kalyan.
#3 VVS Laxman (C)
Indian batting legend VVS Laxman was the skipper of Deccan Chargers in their maiden IPL match. Laxman did not have a good opening match as he was dismissed for a duck by Ashok Dinda. Neither, did he have a great season as he could score just 155 runs from 6 matches and finally decided to drop himself from the playing XI and also gave the captaincy to Adam Gilchrist
Laxman played for India from 1996-2012 and during his playing days was a savior of Indian Test team on multiple occasions. He saved and won numerous Test matches for India by battling it out with the lower order batsmen. The Australian team, in particular, have suffered the most at the hands of Laxman's willow.
In IPL apart from Deccan Chargers, VVS Laxman also played for now-defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala in 2011 and is currently working as a commentator and cricket analyst for some sports channels. He is also a member of Sunrisers Hyderabad's team management.
#4 Andrew Symonds
Former Australian all-rounder, Andrew Symonds was the top scorer for Deccan Chargers in their maiden IPL match with a patient 32 runs to knock off 39 balls on a slow Eden Gardens pitch.
Symonds played just 4 matches in the inaugural edition of IPL as he had to leave for national duty. But in the 4 matches he played, Symonds scored 161 runs at a brilliant average of 80.5 along with a strike rate of 153.33. Among those knocks was a superb century against Rajasthan Royals in a losing cause. However, Symonds bowling performance were not up to the mark as he conceded runs at an economy rate of 14.78.
Symonds made his debut for Australia in November 1998 in an ODI match against Pakistan and was an important member of Australia's 2003 and 2007 World Cup winning squad. An alcohol-related incident abruptly ended his international cricketing career in June 2009.
In IPL, Symonds was part of Deccan Chargers from 2008-2010 and turned out for Mumbai Indians in 2011 and retired from all forms of cricket after that year.
Post his retirement from cricket, Symonds participated in an Indian reality show 'Big Boss" as a wild card contestant. These days, he works as a commentator for Fox Sports.
#5 Rohit Sharma
Indian ODI vice-captain Rohit Sharma is the only member from Deccan Chargers first IPL playing XI who is still playing in the tournament. In Deccan Chargers first ever IPL match, Rohit had a game to forget as he lost his wicket without getting a run to Murali Kartik.
He made his international debut at a young age of 20 years in an ODI match against Ireland in June 2007. However, it was only after the Champions Trophy 2013, when started to open the innings that he became a regular member of the Indian team. Sharma is currently one of the best batsmen in the shorter formats of the game.
In IPL, Rohit Sharma played for Deccan Chargers from 2008-2010 and is the captain of Mumbai Indians with whom he has been part of since 2011.
#6 Scott Styris
Former Kiwi all-rounder, Scott Styris failed the bat in Deccan Chargers' IPL opener, as he was dismissed for just 6 runs by Mohammed Hafeez. However, Styris put up a better performance with the ball with an economical spell of 4-0-19-0.
Overall, Styris had a poor IPL 2008 with both bat and ball as he could score just 112 runs from 8 matches at an average of 18.66 at a very poor strike rate of 91.05 and picked up only three wickets in the entire season.
Styris played for New Zealand from 1999-2011 and ended his career as one of the successful all-rounders for New Zealand in the international arena. In IPL, he was part of Deccan Chargers franchise from 2008-2010 and later on went on to represent Chennai Super Kings in 2013, which incidentally turned out be his last season in IPL.
After retirement Styris works as a commentator and a cricket expert with various sports channels.
#7 Arjun Yadav
Arjun Yadav is the son of ex-international cricketer and former BCCI president Shivlal Yadav and was a member of India's U-19 World Cup squad which won the ICC U-19 World Cup in 2000 under the leadership of Mohammed Kaif.
But unlike his U-19 teammates Mohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh, Yadav failed to graduate to the Indian Senior Cricket Team and was confined to domestic arena and played for Hyderabad from 1999-2012.
In Deccan Chargers maiden IPL match, he scored 10 runs before being dismissed by David Hussey. Arjun Yadav also had a poor season as he could score just 49 runs from 8 matches as a result of which he was released by the franchise before the 2009 edition. After his playing days, Yadav took up a coaching role with his state team.
#8 Sanjay Bangar
Number 8 batsman Sanjay Bangar, provided a late flourish to the Deccan Chargers innings in their first ever IPL match by scoring a quickfire 14 runs off just 10 balls. However, Bangar had a poor inaugural edition of IPL with both bat and ball as he managed only 47 runs from 8 matches at a poor average of 7.83 and took only 4 wickets at an expensive economy rate of 8.76
Bangar had a short International career with the Indian team and was picked mostly as a seam-bowling all-rounder in both the ODIs and tests between 2001 and 2004 and retired from all forms of cricket in January 2013.
In IPL, Bangar played for Deccan Chargers in 2008 and for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2009. He was the batting coach of Kochi Tuskers Kerala in 2011 and later on the head coach of Kings XI Punjab in 2014. Currently, Bangar is the batting coach of the Indian team since August 2014.
#9 Chaminda Vaas
Legendary Sri Lankan fast bowler Chaminda Vaas was the star of Deccan Chargers's opening IPL as he bowled a brilliant spell of 3-0-9-2 in a losing cause. Despite, his heroics in the first match, Vaas did impress that year as he took just five wickets from five matches at an economy rate of 8.92.
Vaas played for Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2009 and retired from international cricket with more than 750 wickets to his name in all the three formats of the game. He holds the record for the best bowling figures in ODI history and is also the only bowler to take an 8 wicket haul in ODIs.
Vaas is often considered by many cricket pundits and experts as the most penetrative and successful new-ball bowler Sri Lanka ever produced. In IPL, he only played for Deccan Chargers from 2008-2010.
Post his retirement from international cricket, Vaas was the bowling coach of Sri Lankan team from 2013-2017 before being replaced by Nuwan Zoysa.
#10 RP Singh
Former Indian left-arm fast bowler RP Singh was Deccan Chargers best bowler and their highest wicket-taker in the inaugural edition of IPL with 15 wickets from 14 matches at an economy rate of 8.31.
In Deccan Chargers maiden IPL match, he impressed everyone as he bowled an economical spell of 3-0-15-1 and picked up the prized wicket of Brendon McCullum who had smashed a brilliant century only two days ago.
Singh made his debut for India in an ODI against Zimbabwe and was an important member of the Indian team which won the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup in 2007. Despite a bright start to his international career, RP Singh faded away very soon due to frequent injuries and finally retired from the game in September 2018 at a young age of 32.
In IPL apart from Deccan Chargers, RP Singh also played for Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Pune Supergiants and is currently working as a commentator and cricket analyst.
#11 Pragyan Ojha
Discarded Indian left-arm spinner, Pragyan Ojha had an ordinary IPL 2008 as he could pick up just 11 wickets from 13 matches at an economy rate of 7.67. In Deccan Chargers'first IPL match, he bowled a terrific spell and conceded only 18 runs from his 4 overs and also took the important wickets of Saurav Ganguly and Mohammed Hafeez.
Ojha made his debut for India in June 2008 in an ODI match against Bangladesh and a year later made his test debut against Sri Lanka. After Harbhajan Singh fell out of favor post the 2011 World Cup, Ojha became a regular member of the Indian test team. However, the emergence of Ravindra Jadeja in test cricket cost the left-arm bowler his place in the team and he last wore the India jersey in November 2013.
In IPL, Ojha was part of Deccan Chargers from 2008-2011 and later represented Mumbai Indians from 2011 to 2015. At the moment, he is playing for Bihar in the domestic circuit.
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