At some point during their Indian Premier League campaign, the Deccan Chargers must have realised they had a lucky mascot in their midst — the team had won every game that Harmeet Singh had played in. On Sunday night though, the medium-pacer played a bigger role than just being picked in the XI, taking two crucial wickets and snapping up a spectacular catch at deep fine-leg as Adam Gilchrist and his side completed a remarkable journey from the bottom of the table last year to the Indian Premier League title in Johannesburg on Sunday evening.

Defending a paltry 143, Hyderabad rallied late in the piece to carve out a six-run victory over Bangalore Royal Challengers to lift the title.

The stunning turnaround in fortunes came about through many small efforts that added up to the big prize. The juniors chipped in as much as the seniors, the bowling and batting backed each other up, Indian players played as big a part as the foreign recruits. The one common thread was they all had a few points to prove.

R P Singh finished with the highest number of wickets in the tournament — 23 in 16 matches — making a statement to the Indian selectors who doubted his form and consistency. He got the ball to swing in and out, and delivered with the new ball as well as at the death. Rohit Sharma played some handy knocks to send out a reminder about his effectiveness in the shortest format. Andrew Symonds joined the side late and played some crucial hands, while Pragyan Ohja took a few big steps into the limelight.

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