The world is coming home - Part III

Group B’s preview can be found here.

GROUP C

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE

IPL 2009′s runners-up Bangalore will be led by Anil Kumble for the first edition of Champions League T20. Bangalore will be the team to beat in their group that also features Cape Cobras and Otago Warriors. Bangalore’s core group of foreign players are from South Africa, and this would help Kumble’s men face-off against Cape Cobras in the tournament opener. This is a team that has good mix of youth and experienced veterans. Some of the young Indians in their team have been part of a few local Twenty20 tournaments recently. Manish Pandey was found in sound nick during the recently concluded Karnataka Premier League. Pandey was a very late success in IPL this year. His stunning century in RCB’s last league match against Deccan and another fluent innings against Chennai Superkings in the semi final got him under limelight. This tournament gives him the ideal opportunity to launch himself into a bigger league of international cricket.

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, who is the replacement for Jesse Ryder, could be a great find if he finds his rhythm sooner than later in this tournament. Kumble is already impressed with the 18 year old’s talent. He says, “Bhuvi can bat, bowl and field well.” For the uninitiated, this 18 year old from UP has already three of world’s prized batsmen in his kitty. Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed for his first first-class duck in Indian domestic cricket (Ranji finals) while Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman were snapped in a Duleep trophy match last season. The last time, RCB played a tournament opener in Bangalore, which was incidentally the IPL’s inaugural match, Brendon McCullum launched himself against the home team’s bowlers and thrashed them to all ends of the park. Bowling will remain a silent concern for Bangalore, although they have Steyn, Kallis, Kumble, van der Merwe and Praveen Kumar in their line up.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

The absence of Jesse Ryder and Kevin Pietersen would put extra pressure on shoulders of Indian batsmen who can play aggressive cricket. While Dravid shimmered in South Africa, the likes of Kohli, Uthappa and Pandey should make their presence felt to make this an indelible tournament for Vijay Mallya.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE SQUAD – Anil Kumble, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Balachandra Akhil, Rajesh Bishnoi, Mark Boucher, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Manish Pandey, Dale Steyn, Ross Taylor, Robin Uthappa, Roelof van der Merwe and Vinay Kumar.

PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR – Manish Pandey, Ross Taylor, Roelof van der Merwe

OTAGO VOLTS

New Zealand’s representation in this year’s inaugural CLT20 has a very good bunch of cricketers who are ideally suited for Twenty20 cricket. Most of the players are extremely athletic and agile and this quality makes the team from New Zealand, quite a dark horse. Otago Volts are up against two quality sides in RCB and Cape Cobras. They are not seeded to go through to the next round of the tournament and would need some of their international stars to help them go through to the next stage of the tournament, if they dream of winning the event. The likes of Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Neil Broom, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Ian Butler will strengthen the squad. Craig Cumming, Otago’s captain would be happy at the list of all rounders he has at his disposal. Most of the members in the team can do wonders with both bat and ball, including the captain.

The bowling again, looks very thin for Otago Volts. But for the likes of Ian Butler and Dimitri Mascerenhas, Otago lack experience. James McMillan, cousin of former international, Craig McMillan, Warren McSkimming and Neil Wagner are the bowlers, most of the opponents would target to score. This is where Otago Volts could thrive or perish. If the opposition, underestimates Otago, they could well pack-a-punch with a surprise!

Aaron Redmond could be the surprise package in Otago’s unit. Redmond does well both with the bat and occassionally with the ball. He is one of those few batsmen in the world to have scored a T20 century. Redmond also has a very good average of 31.83 with a strike rate close to 140. Hamish Rutherford could equally be belligerent. For Hamish, it’s all in his genes. Son of former New Zealand batsman, Ken Rutherford, Hamish has a brilliant strike rate of 167 in T20 games. And to top it all, this left-hander is just 20 years old.

All in all, Otago is a strong unit for this tournament. But, with the likes of Cape Cobras and RCB, it might just be a wee-bit tough for Cumming’s men to progress to the next round. Having said that, New Zealand could unearth a few stars for their international test, ODI and T20 teams.

OTAGO VOLTS SQUAD – Criag Cumming, Nick Beard, Neil Broom, Ian Butler, Derek de Boorder, Matt Harvie, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, James McMillan, Warren McSkimming, Dimitri Mascrenhas, Aaron Redmond, Hamish Rutherford, Greg Todd and Neil Wagner.

PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR – Nathan McCullum, Aaron Redmond, Warren McSkimming.

CAPE COBRAS

One of pre-tournament favorites, Cape Cobras will miss the services of Graeme Smith in this year’s CLT20. Andrew Puttick, the stand-in captain has a plethora of talent to manage. JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Claude Henderson, Charl Langeveldt, Justin Ontong, Vernon Philander and Monde Zondeki will be the key members of this South African side from Cape Town.

Herschelle Gibbs’ influence will be a big impact on the Cobras. With Smith’s absence, Gibbs is the senior most and the most experienced player in their line up. Gibbs’ experience in sub-continent conditions could give the South Africans the much needed knowledge about the grounds and the overall environment.

One of the early birds to capture the essence of Twenty20, South Africa’s cricketers are naturally aggressive and most of them suit the Twenty20 conditions very well. The local mix and the understanding between the players who mostly play together throughout the year will help the South African champions in India.

Henry Davids could well be the batsman who could launch on the offensive on flat Indian tracks in this year’s tournament. Henry possesses a phenomenal strike rate of 140.46. He also has scored a hundred off just 41 balls in Twenty20 matches. With the flashy strok-play of his, Davids could be a lottery worth buying.

The other important aspect of Twenty20 cricket is spin bowling. Spin had a massive effect in this year’s IPL and it will definitely play a major role in the Champions League to be played in India. Claude Henderson’s left-arm orthodox spin could stifle the batsmen and can also bring in a heap of wickets in the overs between 6 and 15. The 37 year old Henderson, has an economy rate slightly lesser than 7 and is close to picking up 50 wickets in Twenty20 cricket. JP Duminy and Justin Ontong’s gentle off-breaks will also be helpful for Andrew Puttick.

Rory Kleinveldt, Derek Brand, Vernon Philander would be handy with the bat as well as with the ball, bowling their usually stump-to-stump line at gentle medium pace.

The fact that, Royal Challengers Bangalore also have a big number of South Africans in their unit could well go against Cape Cobras. The likes of Kallis, Steyn, Boucher and van der Merwe would definitely know more about their opponents. However, the game would just get interesting when the second round of matches start.

If there is any weakness in the Cape Cobras unit, then it could well be the inexperience towards the Indian conditions for most of the players. Playing in front of huge crowds could be intimidating as well as enchanting.

We haven’t seen fanatical club rivalry in cricket until now. May be, we would get a glimpse of it if Herschelle Gibbs would play for Cape Cobras against Deccan Chargers in Hyderabad!

CAPE COBRAS SQUAD – Andrew Puttick, Derek Brand, Ryan Canning, Henry Davids, JP Duminy, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Herschelle Gibbs, Claude Henderson, Rory Kleinveldt, Charl Langeveldt, Richard Levi, Justin Ontong, Vernon Philander, Francois Plaatjies and Monde Zondeki.

PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR – Henry Davids, Claude Henderson, Herschelle Gibbs