"VVS Laxman went through a lot obviously emotionally as he had the captaincy taken away from him and he has been here and played just five games. We told him that we did not need him in the end of the tournament. But we wanted him to contribute his vast knowledge, experience," Gilchrist said after his underdog team lifted the IPL trophy last night following a narrow six-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore.

"He has worked with our fitness trainer, fielding coach and Darren as our head coach. So, that is exciting to see that VVS epitomises what the franchise has been this year," he added.

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Gilchrist said competing in the IPL has given players, especially the Indians, good practice ahead of the Twenty20 World Championships in England next month.

"Obviously, India is the only national team, that had every member of their T20 World Cup squad playing in this tournament. That's an advantage," he said.

"I can't wait to watch, it's going to be interesting to see, how it goes. Having been in Twenty20 mode, that's going to help a lot of the players," he added.