Champions League Twenty20 2010

Champions League Twenty20 has challenges - Sundar Raman

Cricinfo staff

August 31, 2010

Comments: 16 | Post yours as Ajay Chaudhary | Text size: A | A

	Lack of team recognition is a problem the tournament organisers are working towards fixing © Global Cricket Ventures-BCCI Enlarge
Related Links Series/Tournaments: Champions League Twenty20 Teams: Chennai Super Kings | India | Mumbai Indians | Royal Challengers Bangalore | South Africa

The 2010 Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa will be a success but there are challenges to building its popularity, the tournament's CEO Sundar Raman has said.

Last year's tournament drew low television ratings and relatively sparse crowds in India, the world's largest cricket market, for matches not involving IPL sides. Raman admitted the lack of team recognition is a problem and one the tournament committee is working hard to fix.

"For us it is very important that people know the teams," Raman said in an interview with Sportz Power, a website that covers the business of sport in India. "South Africa is going to be different because they are used to a club culture. Now we are starting with an advantage because they know the two South African teams and they know the three IPL teams, so recognition is not 3 on 12 [last year] but it's 5 on 10. So that's a big advantage for us."

At the same time, Raman said that in any global tournament, be it the cricket or football World Cups, there will be teams that are unfamiliar to a particular country's fans. "Here you have three teams to follow, and not one team to follow. That is the big advantage [for Indian fans]."

Still, despite the club culture in South Africa, ticket sales have been mixed to this point. Raman expected Durban and Port Elizabeth to have full houses but said there were concerns about Centurion, which doesn't have a home team in the tournament, and Johannesburg, which does not feature either an Indian or a South African team.

"See CL T20 we have to be clear is not going to get international visitors, rather it's going to develop the local market. That's the big challenge for us and I think that's what we should start focusing on rather than trying to get the world to descend on South Africa."

The other important change this year, Raman said, is to let the quality of cricket be its own advertisement instead of diluting it with Bollywood-style entertainment. The tournament was conceived as a global event, so what entertainment there will be is aimed at a global audience, which is why Enrique Iglesias was chosen to sing the theme song.

"It has to have relevance," Raman said. "Someone like Enrique cuts across genres and brings in a new set of audiences. Our belief has always been that T20 is a great platform to get new audiences into the game. For us this is a big advantage. Bringing in Enrique, taking the tournament to South Africa, adds more fans."

The tournament, which begins on September 10, is being aggressively promoted around the world. In India, ESPN Star Sports (ESS), which owns the broadcast rights, has signed Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan as the event's brand ambassador and has been running a string of ads featuring the actor and players such as Sourav Ganguly and Andrew Symonds. The three IPL teams - Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians - are also running their own marketing campaigns to drum up excitement among their fans.

"Each of the sub-licensees of ESPN Star Sports are promoting it in a big way," Raman said. "Eurosport is broadcasting in 13 languages, then they have ESPN broadcasting in the Caribbean market. It's a big investment that all of us have made in this. Australia is doing some serious promotion through publicity and on-air promotions. So the tournament is being promoted pretty heavily through our broadcasters."

The end result is an event Raman believes will appeal to the viewer in India and the spectator in South Africa. "I am more confident than I was last year because I have seen what the product was last year. I believe that not only will it be a huge success in India but it will be far more well received in India. You have to acknowledge India is the market where there are sizeable TV audiences and South Africa is where the stadium audiences are."

Kolkata get consolation win against second-string Mumbai

Kolkata Knight Riders 135 for 1 (McCullum 57*, Ganguly 42) beat Mumbai Indians 133 for 8 (Tiwary 46, Kartik 2-20, Bond 2-24) by nine wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	Brendon McCullum starred with an unbeaten 57 © Indian Premier League
Related Links Features : Kolkata fail to live up to promise Matches: Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians at Kolkata Series/Tournaments: Indian Premier League Teams: India | Kolkata Knight Riders | Mumbai Indians

As soon as Dwayne Bravo, leading Mumbai Indians in the absence of a resting Sachin Tendulkar, chose to bat Kolkata Knight Riders were officially knocked out, the only team to have not made the semi-finals in any of the IPLs. If they had batted first and beaten Mumbai by around 175 runs, Kolkata could have improved their net run-rate and entered the last four. In their last league match, with little to play for, Kolkata produced their biggest win of the season, smartly using the slow pitch to keep Mumbai to a below-par target. Sourav Ganguly then played the cleanest innings on the tricky surface to take them home without hiccups.

In the only dead rubber of the 56-match league, Mumbai rested five first-choice players, and their second-rung side struggled right from the first over. Shane Bond removed the openers for not much, and the back-up bowlers assumed control with clever variations of pace. Saurabh Tiwary's 37-ball 46 and Ambati Rayudu's 15-ball 27 were exceptions in the general go-slow innings that struggled to stay above six runs an over.

Bond's extra bounce consumed Aditya Tare and Shikhar Dhawan in the first three overs, both batsmen edging while going for the upper-cut. In partnership with JP Duminy, who struggled against the slower cutters, Tiwary provided some momentum. Yet Duminy's struggle meant only 63 runs came in 10 overs while Tiwary was at the wicket. After Murali Kartik's spin, Jaydev Unadkat and Ashok Dinda harassed Duminy with slower ones. Finally in the 13th over, with the score on 77, Duminy swung wildly and was cleaned up by Unadkat.

Match Meter KKR Bond takes two in two overs: On a slow pitch, Bond beats the Mumbai openers for the bounce, sending them both back inside three overs. KKR Duminy, Saurabh fall quickly : After a steady partnership, both Duminy and Saurabh Tiwary fail to push the run-rate and are dismissed in the 13th and 14th overs. KKR Wickets fall at the death: In the last three overs, Kolkata manage to get three wickets, which means Mumbai never get the fillip they are looking for. KKR Ganguly, McCullum finish it off: With a 97-run first-wicket stand, Ganguly and McCullum ensue their season finishes on a high. Advantage Honours even

Saurabh, though, managed to get power and timing behind his shots and had adjusted to the pace of the pitch. But with the run-rate still hovering at six, he tried to go for the big hit, and hit Kartik straight to midwicket. The score was still 77. Bravo didn't make much of the opportunity, and was stumped soon.

The way Rayudu responded to 89 for 5 after 15.4 overs belied the way other batsmen, except for Saurabh, had made the pitch look difficult. He clipped, cut, chipped and lofted with ease, but the lower order struggled around him, and Mumbai were still defending a below-par total.

It was Ganguly, though, who played the ideal innings on the sluggish surface. He committed early to few shots, and made sure all poor deliveries were scored off. And Ali Murtaza helped him with one in the first over of the chase: a long hop that Ganguly hoisted for six. With Harbhajan Singh absent, Mumbai went to quicker bowlers in the Powerplay overs. In the fourth over, Ganguly played his trademark inside-out lofts off Dilhara Fernando, one for a four over extra cover, the next for six over mid-off.

Ganguly was once again at his best when he chipped Duminy for two inside-out fours over extra cover in the 10th over, moving to 38 off 27, taking Kolkata to 71. Brendon McCullum, 30 off 29 by then, hadn't looked comfortable, struggling to get the timing right. Yet he slugged it out, never mind an inconsequential match, and after Ganguly got out in the 14th over, McCullum made sure he was there till the end, getting only his third IPL fifty since that 158 in the first-ever IPL match.

Ganguly may have not seen Kolkata all the way, but it was his positive innings that set up the tricky chase, and he got a healthy applause when he walked back. He took a moment to raise his bat to his beloved crowd. Could this be his last innings for Kolkata Knight Riders?

Dominant Tendulkar boosts Mumbai

Mumbai Indians 174 for 5 (Tendulkar 89*, Watson 3-37) beat Rajasthan Royals 137 for 8 (Dole 30, Zaheer 2-17) by 37 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 89 was the defining feature of Mumbai's comprehensive win © Indian Premier League
Related Links Players/Officials: Jean-Paul Duminy | Kieron Pollard | Sachin Tendulkar Matches: Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians at Jaipur Series/Tournaments: Indian Premier League Teams: India | Mumbai Indians | Rajasthan Royals

Sachin Tendulkar shored up Mumbai Indians yet again with his fifth half-century of the IPL that all but guaranteed them a place in the semi-final and took him to the top of the run-charts in the tournament. He overcame Rajasthan Royals' strong start by building two partnerships: the first with JP Duminy to lead Mumbai's recovery after the loss of three early wickets, and the second with Kieron Pollard to accelerate at the end. That effort was backed up by a clinical performance from Mumbai's bowlers, which left Rajasthan battling in a mid-table scrap at fourth place, and inflicted on them their first defeat in Jaipur.

While their chase seemed doomed to fail after four wickets in the first seven overs, Rajasthan will look back at two phases where Mumbai could have been restricted. They grabbed three wickets in the Powerplay, but failed to keep up the pressure during a rebuilding endeavour by Tendulkar and Duminy. And they performed poorly in the field, with Adam Voges missing an easy opportunity to run out Pollard off his first ball, and Aditya Dole dropping a sitter off Tendulkar when on 45. The lapses cost Rajasthan dearly, as the pair helped plunder 68 off the last five overs to lift Mumbai to a score that proved out of Rajasthan's reach.

Tendulkar faced just 12 deliveries in Mumbai's Powerplay, but adapted superbly, restraining himself while ensuring a healthy rate after the early setbacks, and taking off with ease at the death against Rajasthan's seamers. Shane Watson removed Sanath Jayasuriya in his first over, and followed up by dismissing Ambati Rayudu and Saurabh Tiwary with the bouncer, a weapon used successfully against local batsmen. But Duminy proved a suitable foil for Tendulkar, and the pair worked the field, picked the singles by calling well and accumulated 30 runs in five overs after the Powerplay.

Match Meter RR Watson's triple-strike: Watson snares Jayasuriya, and bounces out Rayudu and Tiwary to leave Mumbai at 30 for 3 in the fourth over. RR MI Tendulkar steps up: Tendulkar smacks Warne for three fours in the 12th over and, with Duminy, leads Mumbai's recovery. MI Missed chances: Voges fails to run Pollard out in the 13th over, and Dole drops a sitter off Tendulkar in the 15th; the lapses cost Rajasthan dearly. MI Tendulkar boosts Mumbai: Mumbai score 68 off the last five overs, and Tendulkar snatches 20 off the final over to lift Mumbai to 174. MI The early collapse: Lumb goes in the first over, and Ojha and Watson follow in the third as Rajasthan falter badly in their chase. MI The final nail: No miracles from Yusuf this time, as he's dismissed for 10 in the 14th over and Rajasthan's fate is sealed. Advantage Honours even

There was hardly anything for the Jaipur crowd to cheer thereafter, but franchise loyalties mattered little in a Shane Warne v Tendulkar contest that fans were deprived of in the previous encounter. Tendulkar prevailed today, with three boundaries in one over against his counterpart. Warne was the only Rajasthan spinner to rely on flight, and Tendulkar improvised twice by striking him inside-out through extra cover. And when Warne dropped one short, Tendulkar made room to cut him through point.

Rajasthan had a chance once they broke the 63-run stand between Duminy and Tendulkar in the 13th over, but paid the price for mistakes in the field and some indisciplined bowling at the death. The seamers often bowled too short and when varying their pace, pitched the ball on a length which Tendulkar and Pollard were able to feed off with ease. Pollard began the surge with a slapped four off Dole in the 16th over and clipping Watson through fine leg in the next. He singled out Dole for treatment, smashing him for a six and a four off consecutive deliveries before being bowled to end a 50-run stand.

Tendulkar's acceleration was more calculated. He had picked out his spots in the field and it didn't help Rajasthan that their bowlers gave him ample opportunity to find them. With a mid-on inside the circle in the penultimate over, Watson bowled short and was hammered over that fielder for two consecutive fours. When Siddharth Trivedi came on next, Tendulkar targeted the wide long-on region for two successive sixes and finished off with 20 in the final over.

The only moment of promise in Rajasthan's chase was when Michael Lumb struck Dhawal Kulkarni for two fours in the second over, before slashing one straight to point. Zaheer Khan was the best of the Mumbai bowlers, nipping the ball away from the batsmen and clocking in excess of 140 kph, and earned his reward when opener Naman Ojha edged to slip.

While Rajasthan were generous in the field, Mumbai didn't waste their chances and Shane Watson and Faiz Fazal were run out after responding late to calls from their partners. All hopes rested on Yusuf Pathan but there were no miracles this time, and when he was caught in the 14th over with the score on 85, Rajasthan's fate was sealed.

Siddhartha Talya is an editorial assistant at Cricinfo