Adam Gilchrist considered Harmeet Singh as Deccan’s lucky mascot, reveals RP Singh

One of the most interesting and fascinating stories to come out of the 2009 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was the rise of young Deccan Chargers pacer Harmeet Singh, who took the tournament by storm with his ‘back of the hand’ slower ball. Harmeet, who did not have a great deal of swing or pace, was entrusted to deliver the job at the death by skipper Adam Gilchrist and remarkably the ploy, more often than not, worked successfully for the Chargers, who went on to win the title that season.

Recalling the 2009 season, RP Singh, who won the purple cap in that very edition, revealed how Gilchrist threw the ball to Harmeet as he considered the youngster to be the side’s lucky mascot. That paid rich dividends as the right-armer’s spell of 2/23 against RCB in the final delivered DC their first IPL title.

“Adam Gilchrist was superstitious about Harmeet Singh. Harmeet was considered as the lucky mascot for Deccan Chargers. Gilchrist believed that if Harmeet plays, Deccan wins the game,” RP Singh said on Star Sports during the watch-along of the match, reported Hindustan Times.

Skipper Adam Gilchrist’s 85 against Delhi in the semi-final of the 2009 edition, a knock that propelled DC to the final, is till date considered to be one of the greatest IPL knocks of all time but RP Singh had an interesting revelation up his sleeve. The pacer revealed that Gilchrist, who was dismissed in the 8th over in that game, was fuming post his dismissal and told Singh that he was angry to have not finished off the game by himself.

“Gilchrist was furious with himself despite playing a match-winning knock of 85 runs in the 2009 semi-finals. He came back to the dressing room after the knock but was angry and furious. I was surprised and asked him what’s the matter and why was he angry after that great knock. Gilchrist said he wanted to finish the game and needs to learn to finish games for the team.”

The legendary Australian played one more season with Deccan in 2010, after which he was purchased by the Kings XI Punjab franchise in 2011. Gilchrist retired from the IPL in 2013, finishing with over 2000 runs to his name.