The inaugural Champions League Twenty20 gets underway at Bangalore's Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday with hosts and IPL runners-up Royal Challengers Bangalore taking on Cape Cobras from South Africa. Cricket's first global inter-club tournament, it is the latest twist in a format that is only seven years but has established itself as the game's main money-spinner.
That element of uncertainty was summed up by Herschelle Gibbs, a key player for the Cobras. "We have a good team and a lot of the guys have been around for a while but this is Twenty20 and anything can happen. As I said earlier it is about the team performing well on a given day that wins matches, but I think Royal Challengers will be one of the favourites."
The 23 matches in the 16-day tournament are spread between Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad. The 12 teams have been divided into four groups of three each with IPL runners-up Bangalore grouped with Cape Cobras and Otago, while IPL champions Deccan Chargers are in a pool with Stanford 20/20 winners Trinidad and Tobago and the Somerset, runners-up of England's Twenty20 Cup.
Delhi Daredevils are grouped with Victoria, the runners-up in the Australian domestic competition, and the Sri Lanka champions Wayamba. The other group comprises the Australian title-holders New South Wales, South Africa's Eagles and Sussex, winner of England's Twenty20 Cup.
The top two teams will qualify for the second round where two groups of four each will compete in a round-robin league. The top four teams will make it to the semi-finals, which will be played in New Delhi, on October 21, and Hyderabad, on October 22.
Royal Challengers Bangalore squad:
A Kumble*, B Kumar, B Akhil, R Bishnoi, MV Boucher†, R Dravid, JH Kallis, V Kohli, P Kumar, MK Pandey, DW Steyn, LRPL Taylor, RV Uthappa, RE van der Merwe, R Vinay Kumar
Cape Cobras squad
AG Puttick*, D Brand, RCC Canning†, H Davids, JP Duminy, SA Engelbrecht, HH Gibbs, CW Henderson, RK Kleinveldt, CK Langeveldt, RE Levi, JL Ontong, VD Philander, FC Plaatjies, M Zondeki
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