Adam Gilchrist’s brutal century against Sri Lanka in the 2007 World Cup final - an innings that single-handedly won Australia the trophy and restored his image as one of the most destructive opening batsman the world has ever seen — will remain etched in the memory for a long time.

The fact that the innings ran into a brief controversy after the wicket-keeper-batsmen had used a squash ball in his left glove tends to get forgotten. The Sri Lankan team had lodged a complaint, but the International Cricket Council had cleared the batsman.

Now, in his stint with the IPL’s Hyderabad team Deccan Chargers, Gilchrist has not only used the little squash ball for his own batting exploits, but has also advised the rest of his team members on the advantages of doing so. When his team mates in Hyderabad had asked him to explain the use of the ball, he said “it provides me with a better grip.”

Among those who listened to what Gilchrist had to say, only Venugopal Rao decided to try it out. Whether it’s a direct co-relation or not, the right-hander from Andhra Pradesh has managed an impressive 242 runs in nine IPL innings at an overall strike rate of 147.56 and is the team’s third-highest scorer after Rohit Sharma and Gilchrist.

Rao’s exploits in IPL have taken bowlers by surprise. Not known as a batsman who strikes the ball hard and clean, Rao has hit 14 sixes and 19 boundaries in the tournament so far, taking Hyderabad agonisingly close to victory from hopeless situations in two games.

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