Six players to watch out for in 2014 Champions League T20 qualifiers

The qualifying stage of 2014 Champions League T20 kicks off on September 13 and will last till September 16, after which the tournament proper gets underway.The qualifiers feature 4 teams: Mumbai Indians (India), Lahore Lions (Pakistan), Northern Knights (New Zealand) and Southern Express (Sri Lanka). These four teams will play each other once and, at the end of it, the top two teams of the qualifiers will progress to the next stage of the competition.The qualifying round should provide us some enthralling cricket as all the four teams boast of some of the most exciting T20 cricketers in the world.Here are six players to watch out for in the qualifiers:

#6 Kusal Perera - Southern Express

The 24-year-old Kusal Perera has already earned numerous comparisons to his compatriot and fellow left-hander, Sanath Jayasuriya. While such comparisons are premature and only unhelpful to Perera in the long run, you cannot deny the fact that he has an X-factor about him which tells you that he will go on to have a long and distinguished career for Sri Lanka.

He is diminutive in stature, but that does not prevent him from dispatching anything that is short both on the off and leg side and is extremely difficult to contain once he gets going.

Twenty20 career:

Matches – 57Runs – 1063Avg – 20.84S/R – 121.90HS – 84

#5 Trent Boult - Northern Knights

New Zealand left-armer Trent Boult, who will be playing for Northern Knights in the CLT20, is one of the most promising fast bowlers in the world today. His strength is that he can bring the ball back into the right-hander at brisk pace, and he has caused havoc especially in Test cricket with that inswinger of his.

He is still new to international cricket – having played just 25 Tests and a handful of ODIs & T20Is – but he has managed to establish himself as an indispensable member of the Kiwi bowling attack in that short time span, courtesy of his 91 wickets in 25 Tests at a respectable strike-rate of 55.7.

His T20 record at the moment is not as flattering, but his international class should shine through in this particular tournament and help his team at least get past the qualifying stages.

Twenty20 career:

Matches – 33Wickets – 31Bowling Avg – 27.48Economy Rate – 7.78BBI – 3/20

#4 Ahmed Shehzad - Lahore Lions

Ahmed Shehzad has been in the news for the wrong reasons of late, but he has a chance to rectify that by having a good CLT20 and helping Lahore Lions reach as far in the tournament as possible. Shehzad is an extremely pleasing batsman to watch when in full flow and has the potential to form the fulcrum of the Pakistan batting unit for the next decade or so, provided his mind is in the right place.

He has shown glimpses of his vast stroke-making ability in his brief international career but is yet to achieve the sort of consistency in his game that is required in order to establish himself in the national team.

Twenty20 career:

Matches – 91Runs – 2630Avg – 30.58S/R – 129.62HS – 113*

#3 Umar Akmal - Lahore Lions

Talking about talented Pakistan batsmen, there is no one more so than Umar Akmal. Akmal burst onto the international scene with a century on his Test debut against New Zealand in 2009, and big things have been expected of him ever since then. But, unfortunately, his batting has been shrouded by inconsistency, hindering him from making great strides in his career.

He is 24 years old now, and there have been signs recently that Akmal might finally start making the most of his ability. He played a couple of impressive knocks in the Asia Cup last February-March and followed it up with a match-winning 94 against Australia in the World T20. Let’s hope, from a neutral perspective, that this is just the start of a good phase for Akmal, and he can hopefully entertain Indian audiences with his strokeplay in the upcoming CLT20.

Twenty20 career:

Matches – 115Runs – 2377Avg – 27.01S/R – 126.90HS – 94

#2 Kane Williamson - Northern Knights

Kane Williamson had been earmarked as the next Martin Crowe as soon as he first appeared in New Zealand colours, and he seems well on his way to fulfilling the expectations of Kiwi fans in that regard. He has already scored close to 2500 runs from 34 Tests at an average above 40 and looks poised to score many more in the coming years.

He is an extremely composed batsman who looks to find gaps in the field as opposed to looking to clear the ropes even while playing T20 cricket, and his performances in the CLT20 will go a long way to determining how far Northern Knights go in the competition.

Twenty20 career:

Matches – 65Runs – 1129Avg – 21.71S/R – 111.89HS – 79*

#1 Kieron Pollard - Mumbai Indians

Kieron Pollard has been one of the biggest draws in T20 cricket ever since he hit 54* off 18 balls against New South Wales during the CLT20 in 2009, but I don’t think he has lived up to his billing on a consistent basis yet.

That, though, is only in part Pollard’s fault. Because of his enormous striking ability, the T20 teams that he has played for, have had him come in a bit too late, as a result of which he has seldom had enough time to make a match-winning impact.

In especially the last two seasons of the IPL, however, Mumbai Indians have realised their error and promoted him up the order on a few occasions for which they have duly reaped the benefits.

In the absence of Rohit Sharma, Pollard will be leading the side in CLT20, and if has the chance to push himself at the right slot in the batting order. The all-rounder recently led his side Barbados Tridents to 2014 Caribbean Premier League title and will look to win the 3^rd CLT20 title for MI this season.

Twenty20 career:

Matches – 245Runs – 4688Wickets – 173Batting Avg – 29.92Batting S/R – 154.16Bowling Avg – 23.64Economy Rate – 8.03HS – 89*BBI – 4/15