Loyal fans charge Deccan up

In a world where winning is the ultimate mantra, failure is looked down upon. But there are many who just love the game and their teams despite the performance on the field.

Deccan Chargers, who haven’t quite performed to their potential in the first version of the Indian Premier League (IPL), still have a horde of cricket lovers who stand by them.

The die-hard fans enthusiasm didn’t fade away with the insipid performance of the team.

It was passion that brought Abhilash Bhagyanagar, a senior system test engineer at Motorola Company in San-Dia-go, California, all the way from the US to watch his dream team in action in their last match here on Tuesday.

There is another interest ing fact that even the earnest fan of Chargers doesn’t know. It is that the name Chargers is actually the brain-child of this NRI.

Asked about how he thought about the name, Abhilash, who is originally from Hyderabad, said, “I have been staying in San-Dia-go for some time now.

People there are very passionate about their football team, San-Dia-go Chargers.

They love their team like anything. Whenever their team gets onto the ground, the fans turn up to support their players.” Abhilash, who was felicitated for coming up with the name here on Monday, said, “Being a Hyderabadi, I also feel the same for our team and I think everyone has the same kind of feelings for the team. Thus, I thought, Deccan Chargers would be the best name for the team.” Captain Adam Gilchrist, who handed over Abhilash a winners cheque, t-shirt and Deccan Chargers cap, said, “It really feels good to see who much people love us here. Though we couldn’t play well this season but next time we will definitely try not to disappoint our supporters.” V.V.S. Laxman, who was also present at the occasion, said, “It’s really touching to see people’s passion for the team. I was really inspired to know the story of how the name Deccan Chargers was conceived. The first time we all heard about the name, we all thought — ‘this is the name’. But today we got the story.”