Written by Rick John Henry for @Hollywoodbets. Follow them both on Twitter and Facebook now!
The cricket calendar has reached that awkward time of the year when an almost farcical Champions League T20 tournament takes centre-stage. International cricket – except the series between West Indies and Bangladesh – takes a sabbatical, leaving the majority of the world’s best players free to ply their trade in the tournament. Where, or rather, for whom they will play their cricket is always a source of heated debate, many fans of the game not enjoying the prominent part that cold hard cash plays in the process. This year is no different, the vast majority of players with conflicting interests siding with their IPL franchises. For the fourth time in six years, the tournament will be hosted in India and, as with all previous editions, will contain a majority of Indian sides. Indeed, if Mumbai manage to sneak through qualifying, no less than four Indian sides will be involved in the final ten. So who looks likely to join the automatic qualifiers? Time to have a look.
Northern Districts Knights
New Zealand’s T20 champions have a talented, balanced set-up that may suit the low and slow subcontinent wickets. Despite losing Corey Anderson to IPL franchise Mumbai Indians, the Northern Knights still pack a few punches in the top order with the likes of Kane Williamson, BJ Watling and HRV T20 top-scorers Daniel Flynn and Daryl Mitchell – whose exploits as an allrounder booked a place in the recent New Zealand A side. They also possess a useful pace attack for Indian surfaces with Tim Southee experienced in the IPL, Trent Boult having an extra yard of pace and the elderly Scott Styris a master of variation. However, it is their spin department that is most alluring. With Daniel Vettori missing the competition for family health reasons, the Northern Knights still have rich talent in Anton Devcich, Ish Sodhi and Jono Boult. Mitchell Santner, Vettori’s replacement, comes highly rated and also has a first-class century to his name. I’m definitely liking the look of the Northern Districts Knights, particularly considering Otago were a strong force in the tournament last year.
Southern Express
Winning Sri Lanka’s four-way domestic T20 shootout, Southern Express have a young side that will do well to navigate their way out of the qualifying group. They do not lack talent but experience goes a long way in securing consistency, something any side will need in a bid to be successful in this tournament. Niroshan Dickwella is an exciting wicket-keeper batsman that South African fans will be familiar with from the most recent Test series. His true attacking instincts have yet to be revealed but he will play an important part in getting runs on the board for Southern Express. Mubarak and Maharoof were the best batsmen for the side in their domestic T20 tournament and will be keen on turning heads in far brighter spotlight. The Perera Trio (Angelo, Dilruwan and Kusal) should all get a look-in, while slow left-armer Pathirana will be one to keep an eye on in the bowling department. Seven wickets in six overs of the Super 4’s T20 makes him a dangerous addition. Lasith Malinga captained the side to their domestic success and could prove to be the missing part in the Southern Express puzzle this year.
Mumbai Indians
There’s little need to seek for exceptional individual performers in this lot. On paper, Mumbai Indians may have the most fearsome T20 side on the planet. At the very least, they are a rich, star-studded side that often battles to function as a unit. They enter almost every IPL tournament among the favourites only to fade away as the tournament progresses. They managed to get over the line in 2013 to win their maiden IPL title but the next year was not so kind as they fiddled with their opening combinations and only found momentum in the second half of the tournament following a horrendous start in the UAE. Still, a team sheet with the likes of Mike Hussey, Harbhajan Singh, Corey Anderson, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Pragyan Ojha, Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma and Lendl Simmons has the ability to trump anyone on their day. Interestingly, it was Simmons who solved Mumbai’s problems for consistent runs at the top of the order in the last edition of the IPL, finishing as the top run-scorer for Mumbai in half as many games as most of his contemporaries. Playing at home, it will be extremely difficult to prevent Mumbai from becoming the fourth Indian team in final groups.
Lahore Lions
The uncertainty over the Lahore Lions’ participation in the Champions League T20 has come to an end after the team was issued their Indian visa, the fragile political relationship between Pakistan and India the contributing factor. Considering Pakistani players are still banned from playing in the IPL, they will consider this their greatest opportunity to prove that they belong in T20 cricket’s largest circus. However, one feels they will battle to make an impression with a side devoid of real stand-out performers. Captain Mohammad Hafeez is indeed a dangerous batsman on his day but hasn’t shown his prodigious talent in quite some time. He’ll always be handy with the ball but it is not often that he justifies his place in the Pakistan top-order and seems to be retained purely on sentiment. Ahmed Shehzad and Nasir Jamshed are part of the Pakistani new guard, already fairly experienced but also inconsistent. Umar Akmal will look to add impetus in the middle-order although the Lahore Lions will battle to contain opponents with an inexperienced bowling attack. Wahab Riaz has done his rounds on the international circuit but, with a newly-born daughter unwell, may miss the tournament and leave too much work to the lesser-known recruits.
VERDICT: Mumbai Indians and Northern Districts Knights to advance.
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