IPL: Gilly hails 'great team man' Symonds

Johannesburg, May 25: The man of the moment and the Man of the Tournament, Adam Gilchrist on Sunday, May 25 hailed all-rounder Andrew Symonds as a 'great team man' after his team, Deccan Chargers was declared the 2009 Indian Premier League champions.

The Deccan Chargers beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore by six runs in an exciting final.

Symonds made 33 off 21 deliveries and took two wickets in two balls to undermine RCB's pursuit of the Deccan score of 143 for the loss of six wickets in the final at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.

Symonds arrived midway through the campaign after playing in the Australia's ODI series against Pakistan in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

"Symonds is a great team man. He creates good spirit in the team. He's just a great personality and a wonderful talent on a cricket field," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Gilchrist, as saying.

"We were happy to be playing without any big expectation because we were trying to rebuild. Given what we did last year, it was a phenomenal effort by everyone in the franchise to turn things around," Gilchrist said.

RCB captain Anil Kumble said the successive dismissals of Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli by Symonds was a big blow to his team's chances of taking the trophy.

"We worked really hard to get to this. But having said that, nobody gave us a chance three weeks ago to be in the final," Kumble added.

ANI