It was a meager total that the Deccan Chargers were defending (143), and Bangalore looked in control of the game till the 15th over, with Mark Boucher and Ross Taylor holding the reigns. It was then that Andrew Symonds got Taylor, and then Virat Kohli in back to back deliveries, handing the reigns right back to the Chargers. Symonds was upset when he was bowled by Kumble at 33, but he more than made up by it with those two crucial wickets, and sharp presence of mind. Gilchrist was so happy that he said he would include Symonds in his Ashes team solely on the strength of his IPL performance:

"He would be in my [Ashes] team," Gilchrist told Cricinfo. "Ever since I've played with Andrew Symonds he's been a real team man. You saw a glimpse of that last year when he only played four games - the respect he had from the Indian players and international players alike. He became an instant favourite in the squad. He's a great personality and a wonderful talent on the cricket field who can turn matches."

Gilchrist also spared some praise for VVS Laxman, who continued to be a great help to the team despite losing his captaincy (after the first season) and being dropped. "Although we made changes in the coaches and the captain, everyone in the squad bought into it, including VVS," he said. "He went through a lot emotionally. The captaincy was taken away from him and he only played five games, then the selectors decided we didn't need him."

"He continued to contribute around the group with his experience and his vast knowledge. He wants to learn to be a better Twenty20 player. That's a wonderful example to young players to see a player at his age wanting to evolve into a better player… It's not just the young kids who are learning all the time; it applies to all of us. VVS epitomises what this franchise is all about."

Gilchrist also thanked the owners of the team and the coaches for supporting the team all through: “The main one was [coach] Darren Lehmann, who has a wonderful cricket brain," he said.

Comments

Add New RSS

3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

Newer news items:

Older news items: