Deccan Chargers first-ever playing XI in IPL: Where are they now?

2. Venugopal Rao

As a local boy of the Andhra team, Venugopal Rao had started his IPL journey with DC. The batter, because of his flexibility, was seen performing many roles both in the middle-order and at the top. From his tally of 11 appearances, Venugopal scored 288 runs at an average of 36 for DC in the 2008 season. In his debut innings, the batter was dismissed cheaply, for 14 runs.

However, with regards to his overall IPL career, Venugopal played till the IPL 2014 season. In 2019, by deciding to retire from all forms of the game, the 37-year brought curtains to his career after playing for two decades, scoring 7081 first-class runs by then. At the fag end of his career, Venugopal had also played corporate cricket for MRF.

Perhaps now, in terms of his post-retirement life, the Andhra veteran is part of the Star Sports Telugu team as a commentator. In 2019, Venugopal had also expressed his desire for coaching stints. Meanwhile, the 39-year old was also part of DC’s winning squad in IPL 2009.