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- By Gurmeet Batra
- Sat, 07 Sep 2024 04:05 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Ex-New Zealand cricketer Scott Styris has nostalgically recalled his stint with India captain Rohit Sharma at the Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League (IPL), citing that he witnessed the Indian batter's massive potential even then.
Sharing the locker room with Rohit, Styris caught a spark in the young player that indicated a bright future, a prophecy that has since been fulfilled by the opening batter's massive international triumphs.
“It (IPL 2008) was my first opportunity to be a teammate and see (and hear of ) Rohit Sharma. He was with us at the Deccan Chargers. He was 19 or 20 years old at that time and I could see then that this kid was something special. I’ve just come back from Sri Lanka where I commentated on India vs Sri Lanka, caught up with him there and he’s still the same guy that he was 16 years ago,” said Styris to cricket.com.
According to Styris, the Deccan Chargers had a fantastic squad on paper during the 2008 IPL season, placing them as a major competitor. However, they failed to meet anticipations and ended last in the standings. The team's loss to settle on a stable and balanced playing XI contributed greatly to their poor performance, resulting in chaos and disappointing outcomes.
“The very first year we were favourites to win it and we came last. Part of that was because we didn’t have a great balance. We had great names on paper but you’re only allowed to play four overseas players,” he said.
“We’d either load up the batting and the bowling would be weak, or we’d load up the bowling and the batting would be weak. When we tried to load it up with all-rounders, we were a little bit bits and pieces and weren’t quite strong enough in any of them and ended up coming last,” he added.
