CLT20 Team analysis: Royal Challengers

Bangalore Royal Challengers spent huge money on Kallis, Ross Taylor and Cameron White in order to play for them. Vijay and Siddarth Mallya are taking serious measures to win 2010 Champions League T20 Cricket tournament. Along with Victoria & Wayamba, Bangalore Royal Chalengers are the only teams that also played in the 2009 CLT20 tournament. In 2009, Bangalore exited from group stage by winning just 2 matches. History may not repeat this time.

Group B teams: Bangalore Royal Challengers, Mumbai Indians, South Australia, Highveld Lions & Guyana

Schedule of CLT20 matches: Vs Guyana (September 12), Vs South Australia (September 17), Vs Mumbai Indians (September 19) & Vs Highveld Lions (September 11)

CLT20 team rating: 9/10

Crucial players: Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn, Anil Kumble, Robin Uthappa & Ross Taylor

CLT20 history: Exited from group stage in the 2009 Champions League tournament.

Qualification for 2010 CLT20 tournament: Third place in the 2010 Indian Premier League (IPL). They defeated Deccan Chargers in the crucial game.

Bangalore Royal Challengers CLT20 team:

Coach: Ray Jennings

Captain: Anil Kumble

Batsmen: Rahul Dravid, Ross Taylor, Manish Pandey & Virat Kohli

All-rounders: Jacques Kallis, Cameron White, Dillon Du Preez & Akhil Balachandra

Wicket-keeper: Robin Uthappa

Bowlers: Dale Steyn, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun & Nayan Doshi

Significant events:

1. Bangalore paid $ 2 lakh to Victoria to grab Cameron White.

2. They paid $ 2 lakh to Central stags for Ross Taylor and another 2 lakh US dollars for Jacques Kallis.

3. Robin Uthappa recovered from surgery and fit to play in the Champions League.

Royal challengers T20 team analysis:

Strengths:

1. South African stars: Coach is a South African. Best all-rounder, Kallis is a South African. Best bowler, Dale Steyn is a South African. They know local conditions well.

2. Captain: Anil Kumble is one of the best strategists in the game and is an experienced intelligent spinner.

3. All-rounders: Kallis and White are high quality all-rounders.

4. Ross Taylor & Robin Uthappa are good middle-order batsmen. Uthappa is a very dangerous player in the end overs.

5. Dale Steyn in South Africa – nightmare for batsmen in the initial overs.

6. They are in easy group. Except Mumbai Indians, others are easy opponents in group B.

Weaknesses:

1. Except Kallis, other top order batsmen are unreliable players.

2. Too much dependence on Dale Steyn in the bowling department.

3. Kallis and White may leak runs in the middle overs.

4. Too much dependence on Kumble in the spin department.

Mumbai Indians Squad rating: 9/10

CLT20 Prediction for Mumbai Indians:

Bangalore Royal Challengers are one of the strong favourites to win the 2010 Champions League cricket tournament. Third group against Mumbai Indians may decide group winner. They are even conducting a 10-day conditioning camp for players to acclimatize to high altitude. Any team will find it difficult to beat a team in South Africa that contains players like Jacques Kallis & Dale Steyn.