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Once it was declared that the successors of Seleucus are weak the province of Parthis which was then in the territory of Khurasan became independent of the Kingdom of Syria in 250 BC under Arsakes of the Arsakidan dynasty. The first important ruler of the Parthis who is connected with the conquests in India was Mirthadates. He invaded India in about 140 BC and conquered Indian Territory upto Taxila. The north western frontier region of India passed into the hands of the Indo Parthians as they are known in Indian history. They ruled the territory lying between the Indus and Jhelum for about two hundred years. The Indo Bactrians and the Indo Parthians were both swept away by hordes of Nomades who are known as the Sakas or more popularly the Indo Scythians.  The home of these Sakas was in the North West China, from which country they appear to have been driven out about the middle of the second century before Christ.  They gradually spread over Bactria and Parthia, and ultimately found their way into India.

The Sakas controlled a much larger part of India than that the Greeks did. There were five branches of the Sakas with their seats of power in different parts of India and Afghanistan. One of the branches of the Sakas settled in Punjab with Taxila as their capital another branches set up a principality at Mathura by defeating the dynasties of Demetrios and Eucratides in India. Under the influence of the Parthian, these Sakas called themselves Satraps later, Indianised into Kshatrapas and Mahakshatrapas. Lyak Kushulak was the first known Saka satrap of Taxila. He also ruled over Shabar and Chuksh. Chuksh is identified as the north western portion of Taxila, Chuhar was probably near Chuksh. One of the earliest imperial Saka rulers who ruled India was Manes or Moga who conquered the territory of Arachosia and the Punjab in about 90 BC. His name is known from coins. His kingdom had three important cities namely Taxila, Pushkalavati which is modern Peshawar and Kapisi near Begram. His satraps or governors ruled over Mathura. Some republican tribes such as Kunindas, Audambras, Yaudheyas, Trigartas and Arjunayas were flourishing in the times of Saka Satraps.

Towards the middle of the first century AD Saka rule in some parts of Gandhara was overthrown by the Parthians who had gradually extended their power from Khurasan to the east. An important ruler of this dynasty was Gondopharnes who flourished between the periods AD 19-45. At the beginning of reign his authority seems to have been confined to southern Afghanistan later on he occupied Peshawar district. According to Christina traditions, he was converted to Christianity by Saint Thomas, who visited India as the head of Christian mission in India. The death of Gondopharnes was followed by the disintegration of his dominions. The Scytho Parithan power declined as was ultimately swallowed up by the Kushanas. The Successors of Gondopharnes are unimportant and ruled petty principalities till they were finally subdued by the Kushanas.

     

  

Performance The IPL team that had performed below the expected lines in the Indian Premier League tournament in 2008 was Deccan Chargers Hyderabad. It was humiliated in 12 league matches out of the total fourteen encounters with its rival IPL teams. Its Captain VVX Laxman had totally failed to give a good performance that badly affected the team structure.  Twelve consecutive losses gave rise to differences between the senior players and turned out to be a big controversy.  Its owner media group Deccan Chronicle had sacked all the administrative staff with the team. Former Australian batsman Darren Lehmann replaced Coach Robin Singh and captain V V X Laxman was replaced by Australian wicket-keeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist for the IPL season 2009. New team management was unhappy with Herchelle Gibbs and Shahid Afridi and had put them on sale but no buyers took interest in them. Shahid Afridi is not playing in the team because of Pakistani players’ absence in the IPL, 2009. And Gibbs is performing well in the ongoing IPL tournament.

Queensland all-rounder Ryan Harris, West Indian players Fidel Edwards and Dwayne Smith are the new players who have been acquired for the IPL 2009. Seven domestic players have been also acquired by the team. They are T.Suman, Abhinav Kumar, S.M.Shoaib, M.S.Bisla, Azhar Bilakhia, Jaskarandeep Singh and Harmeet Singh. With these new inclusions,

Hyderabad team has become one of the strongest team in the IPL season 2009.

  

Squad Chaminda Vaas, RP Singh, Fidel Edwards are the main striking fast-bowlers while Pragyan Ojha is equally disastrous.  RP Singh is also leading to win the Purple Cap. All-rounders Andrew Symonds, Dwayne Smith and Rohit Sharma have provided more depth in both batting and bowling departments. It is evident from two matches the team had played with Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals. In both these matches Sharma and Smith were adjudged ‘Man of the Match’ for their striking performances. Rohit Sharma had made a hat-trick while Smith has made 47 runs of 32 balls. Gibbs and captain Gilchrist are also performing well as for as the batting is concerned. They both open batting for the team and provided some good starts that later on won the matches for them. Rohit Sharma is consistently good as a middle order batsman. T. Suman is also performing well in the middle order. But VVX Laxman has again failed to give a good performance. The team lacks some world-class fast bowlers. Though captain Gilchrist has many bowling options but his problems rise if some of his bowlers are ruled out of team because of injuries or some other reasons. In such situations DC has not many bowling options available with it.

  Problems In IPL season 2009 Deccan Chargers had played 10 league matches till may 10 and had won six out and lost four of them. They had won most of their matches with huge margins. But their losses also depict a striking truth. Whenever their opening batsman failed, they had to face defeat. It indicates that DC team is totally dependant on the top order and is centered mainly on Gilchrist. Gilchrist’s captaincy has provided more aggressiveness to the team.  His experience can prove out to be a good asset for the young teammates that will benefit team’s victory possibilities. DC is a blend of experience and young players. After Delhi Daredevils it has almost ensured its semifinal hopes. It has defeated some hot favorite teams in the ongoing tournament and is one of the leading teams to win the trophy.