IPL 2017: Evolution of Team Hyderabad
Two IPL titles, two owners, eight captains and a roller coaster ride perfectly sums up Hyderabad’s tryst with the IPL.
After starting their IPL journey at the bottom of the points table, Deccan Chargers were resurrected by Adam Gilchrist and went on to became the champions of IPL in 2009. The captaincy was passed on to another wicket keeper batsmen, Kumar Sangakkara, but he couldn’t replicate Gilly’s magic.
David Warner then took the reins and thanks to his strong batting performances and incredible bowling display by his team’s bowlers, Hyderabad regained the IPL trophy in 2016. They will now begin their journey in 2017 as the defending champions and as strong contenders for the title.
The Hyderabad franchise has been in the news for off the field reasons as well, with the ownership being transferred from Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd to Sun TV channel Network in 2013, and subsequently, the franchise name was changed from Deccan Chargers to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The Hyderabad team has so far played 139 matches with 63 wins and 76 losses – a win percentage of 45.23%.
Here, we trace the eventful journey of Hyderabad team prior to the start of IPL 2017.
IPL 2008: The biggest disappointment to the start of their IPL journey
Captain - VVS Laxman
Coach - Robin Singh
Loaded with T20 specialist players like Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Shahid Afridi, Scott Styris and Rohit Sharma, Deccan Chargers were among the favourites in the inaugural season of the IPL. However, the team failed to get the perfect team combination and ended at the bottom of the points table with only two victories.
The disastrous and shocking beginning forced the management into making numerous changes for the next season.
The team jersey for the year was a combination of beige and black colour and the team logo was a charging bull in red and gold colour.