"We reached South Africa 15 days before our first game"- Rohit Sharma recalls his maiden IPL title win with Deccan Chargers in 2009
Rohit Sharma has been an absolute legend for Mumbai Indians (MI), winning a staggering five IPL titles as captain and is also their highest run-scorer in IPL history. However, he was a part of the Deccan Chargers outfit for the first three seasons and witnessed contrasting fortunes.
The Chargers won just two games in the entire IPL 2008 season, finishing rock bottom. However, Adam Gilchrist and Co. fought their way back next season in South Africa and ended up winning the IPL.
On Star Sports, Rohit Sharma spoke about the memories of being a part of that victorious 2009 Deccan Chargers team. He said:
"We changed our planning and also the way we played our cricket. We reached South Africa 15 days before our first game and planned well about our strengths and weaknesses and how the pitches suit our style of play. It really felt good that after being at the bottom last year, this time you managed to top the table and win the IPL. So definitely gives a great feeling."
Rohit also won the Emerging Player of the Tournament award that season and feels skipper Adam Gilchrist had a massive role to play in developing the youngsters. He added:
"Adam Gilchrist was someone who gave the youngsters at that point a lot of confidence. He always used to speak about positive things like how you could take your game to the next level. He had so much experience playing the sport so he came and shared his experience"
Rohit Sharma on the tough inaugural IPL season for Deccan Chargers
The Deccan Chargers could only win against the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings in the entire IPL 2008 season. Rohit Sharma accepted that the team just wasn't able to understand where they were going wrong that season.
On this, Rohit stated:
"We were at the bottom of the table in the inaugural edition of the IPL. Luckily we won two games, one against the Mumbai Indians where Gilchrist scored a century and then against the Chennai. We had defeated the two best teams. We weren't understanding why we couldn't beat other teams as well. Not that other teams were bad, but they just didn't necessarily had great balance in their team."
Deccan Chargers provided Rohit Sharma with a launchpad to become a successful cricketer for India.