Under pressure

Three games. Three losses. The Deccan Chargers, regarded as the powerhouse team of the tournament, seem to be running out of charge, for the moment at least. VVS Laxman, one of India's most talented Test batsmen, leads them and they have the world's glamour boys, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Shahid Afridi. Yet, they haven't fired as a unit.

The Chargers' baffling starting trouble is now one of the hottest topics of discussion in the Indian Premier League, and the consensus among experts Cricinfo spoke to is that it's all to do with pressure - on the team, on its superstars, and on the captain.

According to a former India player, Laxman's long-standing desire to prove that he is good enough to play in the one-dayers is actually hurting him in this tournament. "He is putting too much pressure on himself. Perhaps he is trying to show that he is good for one-day cricket whereas all he needs to do is just play his usual game and play through the overs. The franchise has bought some big hitting players; let them do their job.

"I don't think his captaincy is too bad. The first match was [played on] a bad wicket and I guess in the last game against Rajasthan, he had to use his strike bowlers to get wickets and remain in the game. In the end, it came to Symonds, who has been bowling pretty poorly here."

He also felt the other superstars in the team are also putting themselves under pressure, trying to prove that they are worth so much money. "They are putting too much pressure on themselves. Some of the foreign players have come with big money tags and they are trying too hard. There is too much tension that is visible. And they just need a start like Mohali got last night [on Friday against Mumbai Indians]. Once they do that, the pressures will ease off."

Rameez Raja, the former Pakistan captain and currently a TV commentator who has seen the Chargers play, reckons it's too early to make a call on Laxman's captaincy but feels Afridi should open the batting. "On paper, they have a strong line-up but they just haven't got it together. I want Afridi to open because when you are playing good-quality opposition you need to throw an unpredictable product like Afridi who can do some damage. He needs to fire."

Raja also agreed that Laxman was putting too much pressure on himself as a batsman. "Laxman is not cut out for one-day cricket. He is trying hard, perhaps too hard, and has ended up putting more pressure on himself. Let's not condemn him completely; let's give him some time, a week or so, before making a strong comment on him."

For their part, the Hyderabad camp is confident of making a turnaround and stress that they are not panicking yet. "Just wait and watch, we will come back really well," J Krishnan, the CEO of the franchise, said. "All this loose talk about Laxman's captaincy is all in hindsight. If Symonds had a decent over [in the game against Rajasthan Royals] they would have hailed his captaincy. It's rare that Symonds goes for 18 runs and even rarer that Shane Warne hits 18 runs in an over. I don't count the loss in the first match - that Kolkata pitch was terrible and again an over here and there made the difference. And as I said, the Jaipur game could have gone our way."

Kanwaljit Singh, the assistant coach of the team, is hopeful that the team can bounce back. "The new players have come in and will settle down soon. We had Venugopal Rao struggling to come to terms as an opener in this format and now we have a better batting combination. We will get in Herschelle Gibbs once Symonds leaves. Its just a coincidence that Gilchrist is yet to really get going with the bat and Symonds has had a poor time with the ball. Afridi is settling down and he is bound to show his impact soon. We just need a bit of luck going our way and we are confident that things will improve."