Kieron Pollard: Though New South Wales won the inaugural edition, which was held in India, it was Trinidad & Tobago who won hearts. The squad from West Indies surprised everyone with their brand of fearless, attractive cricket. They also produced a new star in the competition: Kieron Pollard. In a league match at Hyderabad, T&T were 91/5 after 13 overs while chasing 171 when Pollard walked in. He smashed 27 runs off a Moises Henriques over to turn the match on its head, eventually blasting an unbeaten 54 off merely 18 balls with five sixes and five fours to script an unbelievable victory. The knock made him an irresistible buy in the IPL auctions. He was picked up by Mumbai Indians for an astronomical sum, making him one of T20 cricket's prized stars.
Ravi Ashwin: This tall off-spinner was yet to play for the country and wasn't even a regular with the Chennai Super Kings when South Africa hosted the 2nd edition of this lucrative event. Ashwin took four for 18 against Wayamba to announce his arrival. In the next game, the off-spinner became a villain for his team when he conceded 23 runs in the Super Over to lose a game against Victoria. Skipper MS Dhoni, however, persisted with Ashwin, making him even bowl with the new ball in the next match, where he bounced back brilliantly to take three for 24 against the Warriors. Eventually, the Tamil Nadu tweaker played a key role in CSK's triumph, finishing as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 13 scalps. He was named man of the tournament. A new spinner had arrived to do duty for India.
Doug Bollinger: New South Wales Blues were almost invincible in the first edition of the CLT20. A major reason for their dominance was a very good fast bowling attack, led by Brett Lee. A young seamer, however, impressed everyone with the pace and bounce he generated on the docile tracks. In 24 overs, Doug Bollinger gave away just 130 runs. The left-arm seamer was quickly picked up by CSK, who were missing a genuine fast bowler. Later, he played a key role in CSK's hat-trick of T20 crowns - two IPLs and one CLT20 title.
Sunil Narine: The 2011 edition of the CLT20 saw the emergence of a 'mystery' spinner. Sunil Narine was an unknown commodity when he arrived with the Trinidad & Tobago side. Though T&T failed to repeat their exploits of 2009, Narine stood out, mesmerizing everyone with his bag of tricks. In six games, he took 10 wickets at an astonishing economy rate of 4.37. No batsman found it easy to decode him. His performance caught the attention of the Kolkata Knight Riders, who paid $700,000 to buy him in the next IPL auction. It didn't prove to be a bad purchase, since he was man of the tournament in KKR's title-winning run.
Davy Jacobs: If the Warriors reached the final of the CL T20 in 2010, they had to thank Davy Jacobs for it. The aggressive South African opener scored 286 runs in six games @47.66, including three fifties, to make a mark. Even more commendable was his impressive strike rate of 145.17, and the fact that he hit the maximum number of boundaries (40) during the championship. His sequence of scores read: 26, 59, 74, 32, 61& 34. Jacobs soon found himself opening the batting with Sachin Tendulkar for the Mumbai Indians.
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