Indian Premier League runners-up Chennai Superkings announced 15-member squad for the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament which will be held from December 3-10. Chennai team is looking strong in all departments and will be lead by captain cool Mahendra Singh Dhoni. New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram and Indian cricketer Joginder Sharma failed to make the list due to fitness problems. Loss of Jacob Oram is a big blow to the team balance and fortunes as he is a match winner in this format. Coach: Stephen Fleming. Former South African captain Kepler Wessels coached Chennai in IPL 2008 but franchise has not extended his contract. Fleming played for Chennai in Indian Premier League. As per Champion league rules, the IPL franchise has the first right of opting for the player. Michael Hussey and Albie Morkel will play for Chennai Superkings instead of their home teams i.e. Western Australia and Nashua Titans respectively. Both teams will be compensated by US$ 200,000 by the Champions League governing council. Chennai Super Kings squad: Captain: Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Best Twenty20 cricket captain in the world. Top order: Mathew Hayden, Arun Karthik Suresh Raina and Parthiv Patel. They dropped Vidyut who played reasonably well in the IPL. Hayden and Karthik will open the innings. Middle order: Michael Hussey, Kapugedara. All-rounder: Albie Morkel. He needs to play crucial role in the absence of Jacob Oram. Bowling: Gony, Makhaya Ntini, Balaji, Tyagi, Muralidharan and Ashwin. Chennai has strong bowling lineup in both fast and spin departments. But Muralidharan and Ntini failed to meet expectations in the IPL 2008 but Gony surprised cricket experts with his superb performance. Chennai Super Kings will play with Victoria on December 4th in its first match in the Champions League Cricket tournament. Breaking news: First test between England and India will be held as per schedule. No change in dates. IPL Cricket blog: http://www.iplt20cricket.in/ … [Read more...]
Champions League cricket news: Players and teams
BCCI and ECB will agree to delay the start of 1st test between India and England by one day that will enable players who will participate in the Champions League Twenty20 Cricket tournament to take some rest. Champions League 2008 Final will end on December 10th while first test will start on December 11th. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will play for Chennai Super Kings in the Champions League. He is the only cricketer who plays in the inaugural edition of Champions Twenty20 cricket from both teams. Middlesex requested ECB to release Owais Shah and Andrew Strauss to play in the Champions League. But tournament rules will not allow clubs to play with newly signed players (after winning the domestic tournament). So, Middlesex will play in this prestigious T20 tournament without their 5 first choice players. Middlesex is the sole representative from England in the Champions League. First edition of Champions League cricket will be played with 8 times while 12 teams will play in the second edition. Abu Dhabi cricket administration evinced interest to host second edition of the Champions League T20 tournament. Champions league rights: Internet rights were sold to for $50 million for 10 years while TV rights were grabbed by ESPN and Star Sports for $975 million for 10 years. This is the first sports event that will be broad cast in high-definition in India. ESPN holds the exclusive global telecast rights for all ICC events till 2015. Strange news: Nashua Titans player, Albie Morkel, will play against Chennai Super Kings on December 7th. Morkel played for Chennai in the IPL 2008 tournament. Australian cricket star Michael Hussey opted for Chennai instead of home state Victoria. Morne Morkel will play for Nashua Titans instead of Rajasthan Royals. Champions League teams: 1. India: Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. 2. Pakistan: Sialkot Stallions. 3. Australia: Western Australia and Victoria. 4. England: Middlesex. 5. South Africa: Nashua Titans and Dolphins. Except Middlesex, all other teams are looking extremely strong and viewers will get … [Read more...]
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