2008 last-place finish meant Deccan Chargers did not have any sponsors, reveals Pragyan Ojha
Former DC spinner, Pragyan Ojha has admitted that finishing last in the 2008 cash-rich league had a direct effect on their sponsorship for the 2009 season. He also did add that despite all of this, Adam Gilchrist only asked the players to perform to their potential to change the brand image.
In 2008, a Gilchrist-led Deccan Chargers side finished last on the table, with just two wins in 14 league encounters. Following the last-place finish that season, Ojha recalled that they did not have any sponsors for the 2009 season. And it added up as they had to play the 2009 edition in South Africa. The left-arm spinner reveals that due to late sponsorship for the 2009 season, the jerseys did not arrive on time alongside the training kits.
While it started growing on the players, Ojha admitted that a simple speech from Gilchrist changed it all. The Australian opener asked the team to focus on their own games and work hard on the preparations, revealing that only the Championship matters. Rightly so, the speech turned the fortunes around for the Hyderabad-based franchise, who won the 2009 IPL final against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
“After finishing last in 2008, we didn’t have sponsors. Because of late sponsors, you know, when we reached South Africa, we had a limited amount of clothes...training kits. That’s when Gilly (Adam Gilchrist) came and told us that all these things don’t matter, what matters is once you win the championship, see how things will change. And I’m telling you, once we won, it was totally a different thing,” Ojha told Cricbuzz.
In contrast to their first season fortunes, the team reached to the semi-finals, finishing fourth in the group stage with 14 points. After a trashing win against Delhi, the Gilchrist-led side reached the final against RCB. In the end, they won the final relatively easy with six runs over their southern-rivals to take home their first IPL title.
“Deccan Chargers were suddenly a different brand. Everybody started looking at us in a different way. You’re playing in alien conditions, nobody had a home advantage... nobody expected us to win after how we performed in the first . We were a different team in the second edition,” added Ojha.
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