Andrew Symonds is Deccan's main man

He may no longer be playing international cricket, but the high-priced Andrew Symonds has proved his value to the Deccan Chargers this season as well. He's been the key performer in their sensational turnaround which saw them win their last five games in a row to make the semi-finals.


As the Hyderabad-team take on rivals Chennai Super Kings in a fight for a place in the final, it's Symonds' all-round ability that gives them the edge.

Since the burly Queensland all-rounder does not play cricket regularly, the Chargers were wary of him being rusty.

He has proved that he's as good as ever with both bat and ball. He's second in DC's batting list of top-scorers with 404 runs at an average of 33.66. With the ball, his economy rate is the second best at 7.32 with 11 wickets.

Symonds is high on confidence as well having won his team the crucial last league game against Delhi Daredevils. On a sluggish Kotla wicket where all the other batsmen struggled, Symonds hit a brilliant attacking half-century to help his team score a competitive total and win the man-of-the-match award.

At the start of the tournament, Symonds, who played a leading role in the Chargers triumph in South Africa last year, had said he was very much focussed for this tournament.

"(I am) just aiming to get out there and do well in the next few weeks," he had said.

He is living up to his word. It's now a question of two more big performances.

The momentum is with Symonds & Co. but the fear for Chargers is that the law of averages might catch up having won five-in-a-row.

Symonds' skipper Adam Gilchrist, however, oozed confidence on the eve of the semi-final. "I don't subscribe to the myth that we will have to lose eventually. It is a positive feel. After five losses, we hit a point where we realised that we can't afford to lose another game. That sort of freed us up and showed us what we did wrong and how to go about things. So, now it's business as usual," said Gilchrist.

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