Adam Gilchrist may have replicated Shane Warne’s stunning achievement in the inaugural edition by leading the underdogs to IPL glory, but it was a different set of challenges that the former Australian team mates had to contend with as they scripted fairytale endings for their respective teams. While it was by rallying a relatively unknown bunch of youngsters around him that Warne led Rajasthan Royals to an unprecedented triumph last year, Gilchrist had the task of turning around the fortunes of a team who ended up with the wooden spoon in the first edition despite possessing supremely talented individuals in their ranks.

While most of the other teams bolstered their squads during the off-season, Hyderabad refrained from making too many changes to their original set-up. Gilchrist said that RP Singh, who ended up as the highest wicket-taker this season, had done a great job last year as well, but he lacked support at the other end.

“We needed more firepower in our bowling and we got that in the form of Fidel (Edwards) and Ryan Harris, who impressed when he got his opportunity. And even Chaminda (Vaas) managed to make a huge impact in these conditions in the couple of games he played in,” said Gilchrist.

Another important change in Hyderabad’s team management was the inclusion of Darren Lehmann as the head coach of the team. Gilchrist acknowledged that Lehmann, who played two games for Rajasthan last year, had one of the finest cricketing brains and getting him involved was his first condition before taking over the captaincy, along with a few structural changes to the franchise.

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