Cricket stars who decided not to play for home CLT20 teams

KKR T20 cricketer Brett Lee

 There is no place for sentiments in this commercial world of T20 cricket. Several star cricketers are lured by money bags of IPL teams and decided not to play for their home teams. Kolkata Knight Riders is the biggest beneficiary followed by Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. New South Wales, Warriors and Trinidad & Tobago are the biggest losers. These away teams need to pay compensation of $ 1.5 lakh to home team for using these star cricketers. 1. Brett Lee & Brad Haddin: In stead of playing for home team, New South Wales (NSW), these star cricketers opted to play for IPL team, Kolkata Knight Riders. New South Wales directly qualified for group stage of 2011 CL T20 tournament but they saw stars in KKR which need to play in qualifiers to enter group stage.  Doug Bollinger: New South Wales may not need Brett Lee but this bowler can change its fortunes. But, Bollinger opted to play for Chennai Super Kings. 2. Trinidad & Tobago: They surprised everyone by reaching the finals of 2009 Champions League T20 tournament. But, no one is expecting such heroic performance in 2011 as their stars Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo opted to play for Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings respectively. T&T may struggle to reach the group stage of 2011 CLT20 tournament. 3. Jacques Kallis & Davy Jacobs: Warriors lost hope after their stars opted to play for Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians respectively. 4. Aiden Blizzard: He opted to play for Mumbai Indians in stead of South Australia – his home team. Both home and away teams selected these cricketers in their squads but these stars saw sparks in away teams. In spite of their absence, Both NEW South Wales and Warriors are fielding strong squads but Trinidad & Tobago fielded weak side. Qualifying stage of Nokia 2011 Champions League tournament will start tomorrow in Hyderabad while group stage matches start from September 23.  … [Read more...]

CLT20 Team analysis: Mumbai Indians

 Mumbai Indians will start as one of the strong favourites to win 2010 Airtel Champions league T20 cricket tournament. They are strengthened by the arrival of Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo. They will face competion from Bangalore to top group.  Guyana and South Austrlia may find it dificult to beat Mumbai Indians. Highveld Lions may give tough competition due to home advantage. Group B teams: Mumbai Indians, Bangalore Royal Challengers, South Australia Redbacks, Highveld Lions. Schedule of CLT20 matches: Vs Highveld Lions (September 10), Vs South Australia (September 14), Vs Guyana (September 16) & Vs Bangalore (September 19). CLT20 team rating: 9/10 Crucial players: Sachin Tendulkar, Lasith Malinga & Kieron Pollard 2009 CL T20 History: Not played in 2009 Champions League Qualification for 2010 CLT20 tournament: Losing finalists in the 2010 Indian Premier League Mumbai Indians CLT20 team: Coach: Baadal Bhojak Captain: Sachin Tendulkar Batsmen: Shikhar Dhawan, Saurabh Tiwary & J.P. Duminy All-rounders: Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, R. Satish & Ryan McLaren Wicket-keepers: Ambati Rayudu & Aditya Tare Bowlers: Lasith Malinga, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni & Ali Murtaza Significant events: 1. Failure of Trinidad Tobago helped Mumbai in two ways. One is availability of Kieron Pollard & Weak Guyana in group. 2. Dwayne Bravo & Pollard opted to play for Mumbai in stead of for Victoria Bushrangers and South Australia. Mumbai Indians team analysis:  Strengths: 1. Sachin Tendulkar: He is in unbeleivable form in both T20 and Test cricket. He even took rest to prepare for Champions League. He plays well and inspires team-mates. 2. Easy group. Bangalore and Lions are only serious contenders. Guyana has no chance. South Australia is weakened by absence of Pollard and Shahid Afridi - their stand out performers. 3. Bowling: They have very good bowling attack. Lasith Malinga is one of the … [Read more...]