Â
Muttiah Muralitharan will be a key member of the Chennai Super Kings squad.
Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias likes it so much he’s coming out to South Africa to perform the theme song at a special concert to kick-start the tournament. But once the singing and dancing is over, it’s sure to be all-action as the best domestic cricket teams from around the world (barring England and Pakistan) do battle for title honours. Four South African venues will play host to the matches (Wanderers, Centurion, Durban and Port Elizabeth), which will see the 10 teams battle to finish in the top two of their group to ensure a semifinal spot.
Last year’s champions from New South Wales will not defend their title, as they failed to make it to the final of their domestic T20 competition. Indian teams dominate the line-up, with three in the mix, while South Africa and Australia each have two.
Central Stags
Team news New Zealand’s only team in the Champions League Twenty20 suffered a huge blow when star all-rounder Jacob Oram withdrew from the tournament to have surgery on his injured knee – he will be replaced by little-known Ben Wheeler. Former Kiwi paceman Shane Bond will assist the team as bowling coach.
Star players Jamie How, Matthew Sinclair
Chennai Super Kings
Team news The 2010 IPL Champions will be one of the favoured teams going into the tournament. They have a brutal batting line-up (spearheaded by young Indian internationals Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay), and a varied bowling attack, led by veteran Muttiah Muralitharan, who will sport a new number on his team shirt – 800.
Star players Muttiah Muralitharan, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina, Albie Morkel, Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Guyana
Team news Not the most high profile team in the tournament, but the West Indies outfit plans to unleash a surprise performer on their opposition – 19-year-old Jonathan Foo, who was the hero for Guyana in the Caribbean T20 final, bashing an unbeaten 42 off just 17 balls.
Star players Ramnaresh Sarwan, Narsingh Deonarine
Highveld Lions
Team news The local boys open the show on Friday night with their match against the star-studded Mumbai Indians. With the advantage of having the Wanderers crowd behind them, captain Alviro Peterson is hoping for a big team effort from his unheralded squad. His pick of Lions player to watch? Middle-order batter Jonathan Vandiar, a clean striker of the ball, who can win games for his team.
Star players Alviro Peterson, Neil McKenzie, Vaughn van Jaarsveld
Mumbai Indians
Team news Captain Sachin Tendulkar makes his Champions League T20 debut in South African – and he’ll be mightily relieved to hear that huge-hitting all-rounder Kieron Pollard has been cleared to play after being hit in the eye by Dominic Cork during the Friends Provident T20 final in England.
Star players Zaheer Khan, Lasith Malinga, Sachin Tendulkar, JP Duminy, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Ryan McLaren, Kieron Pollard
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Team news Vijay Mallya’s million-dollar team has hung on to a number of their overseas signings by paying the required fees to their local teams. So Ross Taylor (Central Stags), Jacques Kallis (Warriors) and Cameron White (Victorian Bushrangers) will be playing in South African in the red of Bangalore. White, a Victorian through and through, found the decision toughest: “I captained my state side. I grew up playing there. Having to play for Bangalore pre-season and not Victoria will be very hard. Hope it’s done with quickly…â€
Despite Kevin Pietersen’s axing from the England team, it was too late to include him in the Bangalore squad for SA.
Star players Anil Kumble, Dale Steyn, Rahul Dravid, ross taylor, Jacques kallis, Cameron white
South Australian Redbacks
Team news Pace up front will be a key asset for the Redbacks. Australian national team player Shaun Tait will be hoping to bowl some really quick balls, and he’ll be ably supported by 23-year-old Peter George, who has been called the new Glenn McGrath.
Star players Shaun tait, Callum Ferguson, Peter George
Victorian Bushrangers
Team news Having won four KFC Big Bash Twenty20 finals in Australia in five seasons, the Victorian Bushrangers will no doubt be one of the most feared teams in the Champions League Twenty20. Unfortunately, their pre-event training has not been stellar, and they lost warm-up matches to both the Queensland Bulls and the Redbacks.
Star players Dirk Nannes, Peter Siddle, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Andrew Mcdonald
Warriors
Team news The Eastern Cape franchise will be South Africa’s top team at the tournament, having won both the Standard Bank T20 tournament and the MTN40 Championship last season. The losses of Wayne Parnell (injury) and Jacques Kallis (to Bangalore) will be sorely felt – especially the absence of Kallis who leaves a huge hole at the top of the batting order. Local vocal PE support should give the team a boost when they need it.
Star players rusty theron, makhaya ntini, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Ashwell Prince, Colin Ingram, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher (Davey Jacobs)
Wayamba Elevens
Team news One of the most keenly anticipated matches of the Champions League Twenty20 2010 will be the 15 September clash in Centurion between Sri Lanka’s only team in the competition, Wayamba, and IPL champions Chennai Super Kings. Why? Well, it’s not often that you get to see Murali bowling to one of the players who knows the trickeries of his spin best – Sri Lankan opener (and first slip supremo) Mahela Jayawardene. Should be a treat.
Star players Ajantha Mendis, Mahela Jayawardene, Farveez Maharoof
Comments are closed.