Gilchrist captaincy made the difference: Afridi by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Player:	Shahid Afridi, AC Gilchrist, VVS Laxman
Event:	Indian Premier League 2009

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DateLine: 27th May 2009

 

Pakistan's swashbuckling all-rounder Shahid Afridi has said that it was Adam Gilchrist's sensible and aggressive captaincy that changed the fortunes for the new IPL champions Deccan Chargers.

 

Chargers, who had finished at the bottom of the pile last year, crowned themselves champions in the second edition. They defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final.

 

All-rounder Afridi, who played for Chargers in the inaugural edition, had earlier sparked off a big controversy when he suggested that Gilchrist should replace VVS Laxman as captain of the team.

 

Afridi though said his viewpoint now stands vindicated but he never had anything personal against Laxman.

 

"People misunderstood what I wanted to say. I never meant any disrespect to Laxman who is a top Test player. But I just felt that his captaincy was not aggressive enough for T20 cricket.

 

"Laxman's captaincy was one of the reasons for the team not doing well in the first year. One can see the difference that Gilchrist brought to the team as captain.

 

"Gilchrist is one of the best captains I have seen. He leads from the front. He is strong enough to take sensible and aggressive decisions in pressure situations and his backing of the younger players was very impressive.

 

"This was more or less the same team that played last year. But the captaincy made a big difference to the team,” Afridi said.

 

Afridi also said that though he was disappointed because of not being able to play for his side this year, he was extremely happy seeing the Chargers rise from the bottom to the top this year.