Mumbai Indians V/s Highveld Lions- Preview

In the opening match of this year's Champions League T20, the local South African outfit, Highveld Lions take on the mighty runners-up of the third edition of the Indian Premier League, Mumbai Indians. Mumbai Indians led by Sachin Tendulkar looks to be the stronger side on paper, when compared to the side led by the South African Alviro Peterson, but like the champions of the game would say, no game is won on paper. While Mumbai sport a squad that has a great mix of youngsters and heavyweights, Highveld Lions are a young side with a lot of unknown local names, better accustomed to the South African conditions. Even contests have never been this even.

Players to watch out for : In a team that has a Sachin Tendulkar in it, it really gets tough to choose any other player from the squad to watch out for, but the big man Keiron Pollard will be expected to start clearing the ground from day 1. On the bowling front for the Mumbai Indians, the South African conditions will suit the SriLankan slinger Lasith Malinga who, on his day, can rip apart any batting line up.
For the Highveld Lions, a lot rests on their captain Alviro Peterson and the reliable Neil Mckenzie. Also, the bouncy tracks of South Africa will suit their left-handed pacer, Cliff Deacon who comes in handy with the bat, as a tailender and their leading wicket taker in the previous season, Craig Alexander.
Even if the Mumbai Indians go into this game as the superior side when it comes to the names, T20 and its unpredictability will bring the scenario right back to balance before both the teams hit the field. While one is a biggie, the other is very easily one of the underdogs of this tournament. One can only expect a lot of nail biting encounters from day 1.

Probable XI:

Highveld Lions	Mumbai Indians
Alviro Peterson (Captain)	Sachin Tendulkar ( Captain)
Neil McKenzie	Shikhar Dhawan
Thami Tsolekile (Wicket Keeper)	Ambati Rayudu
Cliff Deacon	JP Duminy
Werner Coetsee	Keiron Pollard
Aaron Phangiso	Saurabh Tiwary
Zander De Bruyn	Harbhajan Singh
Craig Alexander	Lasith Malinga
Ethan O’Reilly	Ryan McLaren
Vaughn van Jaarsveld	Zaheer Khan
Shane Burger	Aditya Tare (Wicket Keeper)

THE League Is Here...

After a week long focus on the underbelly of the 'gentleman's game', cricket lovers can breathe easy as the biggest T20 tournament is ready to take centre stage, and erase the bitter memories etched in our minds by the on-going match fixing scandals.

Yes, its time for Champions League T20 2.0!

The format of Champions League is fairly simple. The top teams in the domestic league of every cricket playing nation battle it out to find one ultimate winner, the champion of champions.

After a very successful first edition last year in our very own turf, the action this year shifts to another T20 friendly nation, South Africa.

The previous edition saw the participation of 12 teams, 2 each from Australia,England and SouthAfrica, 1 each from Newzeland, Srilanka and WestIndies and 3 from India. These 12 teams were divided into 4 groups and the top 2 from each advanced to the knockout stages.

This year though, is a different ball game. This year the participation has come down to just 10 teams as the English county teams have decided to back out from this tournament due to domestic commitments. Hence, the 10 participating teams are divided into 2 groups of 5 each.

Apart from entertaining humongous audiences throughout the world, this entertaining T20 tournament did a world of good for the lesser known players. Last year, Trinidad and Tobago, a team that did not come in as the favourites to even get past the group stages , outplayed almost every opponent of theirs and reached the finals of the tournament where they lost a thriller to the Australian outfit, New South Wales. Through this very tournament, a lesser known West Indian opener, Adrian Barath got his due in the form of recognition. Their middle order monster, Keiron Pollard was very easily the revelation of the tournament. Every opportunity he got to come out and bat, he made it count. With such an explosive style, he caught the eye of a lot of people and was one of the costliest player to be bid for in the third season of the IPL.
This year's Champions League will be a similar platform for youngsters who want to make it to their national T20 squads or get more playing time in their domestic or any international league.

This blog will contain everything that happens in the course of this tournament. I will write a preview to every game that is played and will do a post-match analysis as well.

In just three and a half hours from now, entertainment will be transformed as Mumbai Indians will take on the South African side, Highveld Lions. So like Mr. Amitabh Bachchan says in the promos, in a dramatic fashion that only he can pull off, Ab hoga Asli Muqabala!