World Of T20 Cricket

Royal Challengers Bangalore coach Ray Jennings believes the IPL teams competing in the Champions League Twenty20 will have a tough time as the quality of their opposition will be different to what they faced in the Indian league.

The tournament gets underway on October 8 in Bangalore, and features three IPL teams – Deccan Chargers, Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils – and nine domestic sides from five other countries. Jennings, who had overseen Bangalore’s progress to the IPL final in South Africa, said the IPL teams would find it difficult to get into their groove as they comprised of international players who didn’t play together often. 

“The sides that you play in Champions League are a lot better than IPL sides,” Jennings said. “The team plays together right through the year so they have a culture in place.

“But with IPL sides, there are players from around the world and that will be a problem. Hopefully, we start well and get the momentum going, which is very important,” he said.

Jennings, who will supervise a preparatory camp for the tournament in a couple of days, has tipped Cape Cobras and New South Wales (NSW) as favourites for the tournament. The Cobras team, led by South Africa captain Graeme Smith, also includes Herschelle Gibbs and JP Duminy. NSW, under captain Simon Katich, are a formidable unit including nine players with international experience.

“They are two very strong sides and are favourites to win,” Jennings said. “But you never know in a Twenty20 game.”

written by Swapnil \\ tags: Champions Twenty20 League, ILP

South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs has said that he will represent the Deccan Chargers in the Champions Twenty20 League. Gibbs, who was part of the victorious Deccan team that won the second edition of the IPL, chose the Indian franchise over his home side Cape Cobras, which would also be competing in the tournament featuring domestic Twenty20 champions from South Africa, Australia, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies.

“Yes, I will indeed come down to India once again soon and it will be my pleasure to represent the Chargers in the Champions Twenty20 League,” Gibbs told the Deccan Chronicle.

Gibbs played a key role in Deccan’s triumph in the IPL, held in South Africa this year. He was the second highest run-getter for them (behind captain Adam Gilchrist) with 371 runs at 33.72, which included four fifties and a strike-rate of 112.08 in the 14 matches.

The Cape Cobras will be compensated for the loss of Gibbs. “There is a provision in the tournament participation agreement wherein a team has to be compensated $200,000 if a player doesn’t represent the home side in the Champions League,” Andre Odendaal, the Cape Cobras CEO, said.

The Cape Cobras and Diamond Eagles would be South Africa’s representatives in the Champions League, which runs from October 8-23, while Deccan would represent India along with Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils in the tournament which carries $6 million prize money.

The Cape Cobras, who beat the Eagles in the final of the Pro20 series in South Africa this year, will play Bangalore, the IPL runners-up, in the opening game of the Champions League. Deccan will kick off their campaign two days later against a yet-to-be-decided English opposition.

written by Swapnil \\ tags: Champions Twenty20 League