Qualifiers
Auckland Aces: Have made the finals of NZ’s T20 domestic tournament four times in the last six years and won it this year. Auckland have three international pacers in Chris Martin, Daryl Tuffey and Kyle Mills, while Lou Vincent and Martin Guptill strengthen the batting.
Key Player: Martin Guptill
Trinidad and Tobago: The West Indies side that surprised everyone with their run to the finals in CLT20’s inaugural season, will be looking to go one better. Missing Kieron Pollard, they have exciting batsmen in Lendl Simmons, Adrian Barath and Darren Bravo.
Key Player: Adrian Barath
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Leicestershire Foxes: Placed in the bottom of the County Championships, Leicester were the surprise winners of the English T20 Championships. Captained by Matthew Hoggard, the underdogs have few star names, although Abdul Razzaq is more than capable of providing the big hitting.
Key Player: Abdul Razzaq
Kolkata Knight Riders: Injuries mean that skipper Gautam Gambhir and key batsman Eoin Morgan will be missing from KKR. The IPL team will be captained by Jacques Kallis, still have plenty of batting strength and a dangerous Yusuf Pathan who will want to make a point
Key Player: Yusuf Pathan
Ruhunu XI: Sanath Jayasuriya may have retired from international cricket and donned the commentator’s suit but he will feature for CLT20 debutants Ruhunu who won the Sri Lanka’s domestic T20 competition. They beat and will replace Wayamba who have had a torrid time in the Champions League.
Key Player: Sanath Jayasuriya
Somerset: The English side who finished behind Leicestershire are without key players in captain Marcus Trescothick and Craig Kieswetter and Jos Buttler, who have England commitments. They will be captained by Alfonso Thomas, who played for Pune Warriors in IPL.
Key Player: Alfonso Thomas
Main Draw
Cape Cobras: Tough decisions will have to be made as the return of players like JP Duminy, Robin Peterson and Dale Steyn will mean some players who helped the Cobras win the Pro20 title last season will have to be jettisoned.
Key Player: Dale Steyn
Mumbai Indians: Mumbai may miss the services of Sachin Tendulkar, Munaf Patel and Rohit Sharma all of whom suffered injury in England. Plenty of responsibility will be on Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh, the seniormost player in the absence of the talismanic Tendulkar.
Key Player: Lasith Malinga
Warriors: Last year’s CL T20 finalists, Warriors include 10 players who have represented South Africa. The bowling unit comprises pacers Makhaya Ntini, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Wayne Parnell as well as spinners Nicky Boje and Johan Botha. The batting featuring Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher though appears a bit thin.
Key Player: Rusty Theron
NSW Blues: The winners of the inaugural CL T20 in 2009 were runners up in the Big Bash this year. Although players like Doug Bollinger, Brad Haddin and Brett Lee will be playing for their IPL sides, some like Shane Watson and David Warner will feature for the Australian side.
Key Player: Shane Watson
SA Redbacks: Unbeaten in the league stage of the Champions League, the Redbacks were knocked out of the competition in the semifinals. With momentum behind them after winning the Big Bash this year, they have another opportunity to do better.
Key Player: Daniel Christian
RCB Bangalore: Although they finished runners up in the 2011 IPL, their fortunes depended almost solely on Chris Gayle who finished as the highest run scorer of the tournament and helped RCB win eight of the nine games he played. RCB will certainly hope that form continues.
Key Player: Chris Gayle
Chennai Super Kings: CSK have a knack for performing consistently in T20 cricket. Last year won both the IPL and CLT20 titles. With plenty of batting and bowling strength, CSK under captain MS Dhoni would back themselves to add further silverware.
Key Player: MS Dhoni
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