Champions League 2014 – THE CHAMPION OF THE CHAMPIONS

   

Concept – The Champions League Twenty20, also referred to as the CLT20, is an annual international T20 cricket competition played between the top domestic teams from major cricketing nations. It was jointly founded and promoted by BCCI, Cricket Australia & Cricket South Africa. Thus these countries have maximum representation and automatic qualification into the main draw. It is held in the months of September / October and has been assigned a window of about 2 to 3 weeks.

 

Format – This edition of the CLT20 will feature 10 teams (2 Groups of 5 each) in the main draw. 8 teams will be direct entrants, while other 4 teams will battle it out for 2 spots. Therefore, there is qualification stage, league stage and knockout stage (Semi Finals & Finals) in the tournament.

Groups –

Pool A	Pool B
1)      Kolkata Knight Riders	1)      Kings XI Punjab
2)      Perth Scorchers	2)      Hobart Hurricanes
3)      Dolphins	3)    Cape Cobras
4)      Chennai Super Kings	4)    Barbados Tridents
5)      Qualifier	6)      Qualifier

 

HOW THE QUALIFYING TEAMS STACK UP

A)     MUMBAI INDIANS

They have made their way into this tournament on the back of a thrilling historic win against the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. Rohit Sharma, their captain picked up a shoulder injury in the recent England series which has ruled him out of the tournament. Thus the batting of MI is on the edge with just seven options to choose from. This is an ideal opportunity for Ambati Rayudu to the repay the faith shown by the MI think tank ahead of the IPL auctions 2014 by retaining him. With the dominant power of IPL and the biggest pockets in the league they have ensured that Lasith Malinga & Kieron Pollard will play for them ahead of their respective home club teams. Imagine fielding a playing XI without them.

 

Strengths – Having won this tournament as well as the IPL before, the team is high on confidence. They have genuine specialist T-20 match winners like Malinga, Pollard, Anderson etc who can win games for them single handed. Harbhajan Singh had a reasonably good IPL earlier this year but still could not make way into the national side. Time is running out for him, he will desperate to make a statement.

 

Weakness – Besides Lasith Malinga & the turbanitor Bhajji, the bowling department is very inexperienced. Their batting is heavily reliant on a few.

Surprise Package -

1) Praveen Kumar – He has very limited pace, but has mastered the art of bowling in the sub continent with his experience. An aggressive personality and a canny mind, coupled with his ability to swing the ball both ways could be handy in getting early wickets.

2) Aditya Tare – A stylish right handed wicket keeper batsman who is kind of a floater and can bat at any position. He hit the famous six which has ensured the participation of MI in this tournament.

 

B) LAHORE LIONS

They are only team from Pakistan who are participating in this tournament. Their participation had been uncertain over visa concerns, which were just recently sorted. They would be itching to produce some stellar performances on this stage and show rivals India that they too have some of the most sorted talent in this format. They have a reasonably good blend of domestic players along with few international stars.

Strengths – They have some aggressive flamboyant players who make up the core of their batting (Hafeez, Jamshed, Shehzad & Umar Akmal). As always a team from Pakistan can never be short of fast bowling talent, Wahab Riaz & Aizaz Cheema lead the attack for them.

Weakness – The middle order lacks international experience, which could prove detrimental on this stage. 

Surprise Package –

1) Adnan Rasool – He has played most of cricket on the domestic front. With doubaeed Ajmal’s bowling action, he could use this tournament to make a case for the himself for the upcoming World Cup.

2)      Saad Nasim – He is a middle order batsman who has the ability to bowl his arm over with some leg breaks. He played a useful hand for them in the Faysal Bank T-20 tournament. (i.e. Pakistan’s T20 league)

 

C)     NORTHERN DISTRICTS

      

      They are only team from New Zealand who are participating in this tournament.  They came to India early in September to acclimatise to the playing conditions in the subcontinent. They had only 5 wins in 3 seasons until they won their maiden title at the HRV Cup (i.e. New Zealand’s T20 league) earlier this year. The experience of the veteran, Daniel Vettori will be missed by them.

 

       Strengths – They have some genuine swing bowlers like Southee and Boult who could make the most of the subcontinent pitches. Historically, New Zealand is full of bits and pieces cricketers, which at times provide depth and balance in this format.

 

      Weakness – They do not much experience of playing in these conditions. All the other teams in the qualifiers are from the subcontinent. Thus beating these sides in these conditions would be an uphill task for them.

 
             Surprise Package –

 

1)  D Mitchell  – He is an aggressive middle order batsmen. He has the ability and the confidence to make a mark for himself. The platform is set for him to deliver something special and in turn get him an IPL contract for the next season.

2) A Devcich – His batting ability along with his left arm off spinners is ideal for them.

 

D) SOUTHERN EXPRESS -

      Sri Lankan teams have always faired poorly at the Champions League to date. The scheduling of their T20 league has always been poor amidst some international tour and during the peak monsoon time. Although, they are among the top ranked T20 sides and also world champions in T20I, their league is nowhere close to being the top. Dilshan pulled out of the tournament in the last week citing personal commitments.

Strengths – They have a few hard hitting batsmen and if they free off pressure they could surprise big teams.  They have many spin bowling options in the form of S Prasanna, D Perera & S Pathirana.

Weakness – Their main weakness is  lack of players who have experience on the big stage. Malinga will be representing Mumbai Indians. That is a huge blow for them.  

Surprise Package –

1)      KJ Perera - His batting is highly inspired by his childhood hero Sanath Jayasuriya. With his short backlift, powerful arms and aggressive mindset at times he looks a replica of his master.

2)      F Maharoof – He is very experienced and has played a reasonable amount of cricket for Srilanka. He has gone on air and mentioned about getting back into the national side, if he wants to stand a chance this tournament is his big ticket.