IPL 2019: Deccan Chargers first ever IPL XI- Where are they now?

#2 Y Venugopal Rao

Y Venugopal Rao E V

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.

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#3 VVS Laxman (C)

VVS Laxman

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.