During an international career that spanned almost 12 years the Australian wicketkeeper-batsman won three World Cups, three Ashes series and set many more records as an integral cog of the all-conquering Australian Test machine.
When he retired from international duty early last year he was widely heralded as the greatest wicketkeeper-batsman of all time, having revolutionised the role with explosive batting and exemplary glovework.
More than 12 months on, Gilchrist has reminded the world of his incredible talent, and added another string to his bow by exhibiting remarkable leadership qualities in turning the Chargers from chumps to champs.
Deccan finished bottom of the IPL table in 2008 after a miserable campaign in which they won just two of 14 matches, and little more was expected of them in the competition's second edition.
"We certainly felt at the start of the tournament that we were coming in as one of the least favoured teams," Gilchrist admitted after the Chargers beat Bangalore in the final Sunday.
"I really encouraged our team to try to play everything down and fly under the radar if you like, because we were happy with that, without having any expectations on us."
Indian fans will remember Gilchrist leading Australia to their first Test series win on Indian soil in 35 years as stand-in skipper for the injured Ricky Ponting back in 2004.
Having also served as vice-captain for a large part of his international career Gilchrist is clearly a natural leader, and his overwhelming success in his first full season as Deccan captain proved it.
Under his tutelage the Chargers raced out of the blocks, winning their first four matches before holding their nerve in the knock-out rounds to become the Twenty20 competition's second champions.
"The first thing I said at the start of our first meeting was, 'Guys, we're all in it together'," he reflected.
"That was my first line of our first team meeting and yeah, we're all going to enjoy this [victory] together."
As much as his leadership, Gilchrist's powerful hitting at the top of the order was crucial to Deccan's charge as he hammered 495 runs, the second highest tally in the tournament.
Reviving memories of the 2007 World Cup final when he single-handedly destroyed Sri Lanka in Barbados, the veteran blitzed an incredible 85 off just 35 deliveries Friday to dump much-fancied Delhi Daredevils out of the five-week Twenty20 extravaganza.
But perhaps most astonishing has been how sharp his wicketkeeping remains, an attribute that turned the final on its head when he brilliantly stumped Virat Kohli off the bowling of Andrew Symonds to take Deccan's second wicket in two balls.
Bought for 700,000 dollars in the IPL auction last year Gilchrist has been worth every cent, and while this may not equal the experience of winning World Cups the veteran is forced to admit that he's loved every moment.
"This is the only cricket I play now, so given what we went through last year, this is just a really tremendous effort from the whole franchise to turn it around. It's just been a great experience."
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