Held by The Deccan Chronicle, the Chargers brigade had a roller-coaster ride in the IPL. Led by the then skipper Adam Gilchrist, the Deccan Chargers emerged as champions and lifted the IPL trophy in 2009, followed by a semi-final finish in the third edition. With a new captain in Kumar Sangakkara, the Chargers had a relatively unsatisfactory fourth season and made an early exit from the tournament.

In 2012, two new players were added to the squad in the form of Indian wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel and West Indies batsman Darren Bravo. Once again, the Chargers were on a complete downward slope as they lost matches one after the other, whilst clinging to a few wins. However, their premier bowler Dale Steyn was the most impactful player in the tournament as he threatened the batsmen with his fiery spells. The team was far away from qualifying but did extremely well to upset the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who couldn't qualify for the playoffs. That turned out to be their last year in the IPL though as later that year, the IPL governing council terminated their contract for breaching contract terms.