01 May,2009 03:50 PM IST | | PTI
Deccan Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist has said VVS Laxman is still in the scheme of things despite the fact that the Indian middle-order batsman was rested to give youngster T Suman an opportunity in yesterday's encounter against the Delhi Daredevils.
Former Chargers captain Laxman has had an unimpressive outing with the bat so far and was replaced by Suman, who scored 23 in the Indian Premier League match which they lost by six wickets.
"T Suman has been playing well in the nets, so we decided to give him an opportunity. It does not means that VVS is out of contention. He is always there, but we also wanted to test some youngsters," said Gilchrist after his team went down for the first time in the tournament.
The former Australian stumper felt they were 15-20 runs short in their match against the Daredevils.
"I think we started badly. Losing Gibbs and me in quick succession did us in. Although we recovered well, but I think we fell short by 15-20 runs. Dwayne Smith batted well but he needed someone at the other end to keep us going," he said.
Gilchrist said they were in the game till the partnership between Tillakaratne Dilshan and Dinesh Karthik put it beyond them.
"I think the partnership between Dilshan and Karthik changed the momentum. The match to an extent was in our control after we made early inroads, but we somehow failed to stop them. There are times when you plan well but cannot execute them. I think it was one those days," said Gilchrist.