A keepsake photo with a Deccan Charger superstar like Adam Gilchrist or Andrew Symonds is probably the ultimate fantasy for an ardent DC fan and that dream came true for a few lucky members of the Deccan Chargers Premium Club. Not only did they get to watch an entire T20 practice match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Saturday, but they also got to meet and interact with the IPL Champions. In red and blue jerseys and T’s, the DC fans cheered their players through the match and wished them all the luck they need to bring home the trophy again.

A visibly thrilled Pradeep Nath, an IT employee of Mahindra Satyam, exclaims, “I got a call on Friday informing me that I was among the lucky few members of the DC Premium Club chosen to watch the players play and meet them. It was a great experience. I’m happy that an event of this sort was planned for the Club members. I got my T shirt autographed by Gilchrist, Symonds, Suman, Darren, Harpreet as well as photographs with Gilly and Symonds. It was amazing!”

DC fans were nothing short of ecstatic and said that the interaction in a small way made up for the absence of DC matches being played in the city. “We are disheartened that we will not see our team in action on home ground but the fact that we watched them play and met them gave us some relief. However, we are still hoping that the city will play host to the latter half of DC’s games,” says Pradeep Reddy Venteru, credit analyst, Lloyd’s MIU India.

Delighted members of the DC Premium Club walked away from the stadium with autographs, autographed Ts, jerseys, photographs. V. Jayathirtha Rao, deputy director, IICT, says, “The players gladly obliged with snaps and autographs. What was great was that fans from different walks of life came to meet the players and shared the same passion.”

The players themselves were very pleased to meet their supporters, knowing that they will miss this “enthusiastic” support on home turf. T. Suman, whose side won the practice match under his captaincy, met the ardent fans, “The fans were enthusiastic and bubbling with energy. Fans told us ‘We will miss you’ and I told them, ‘I will miss you too’ because we will miss playing in front of the home crowd yet again like last season.” “Meeting some of the fans was great and encouraging,” he adds.