Champions League Twenty20 2010

Champions League Twenty20 has challenges - Sundar Raman

Cricinfo staff

August 31, 2010

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	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."

Raina century seals one-sided win

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga

May 2, 2010

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India 186 for 5 (Raina 101, Yuvraj 37) beat South Africa 172 for 5 (Kallis 73) by 14 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Hawk-Eye

	Suresh Raina became the first Indian batsman to score an international T20 hundred © Getty Images
Related Links News : Centurion Raina thanks Dhoni for help Players/Officials: Jacques Kallis | Suresh Raina Matches: India v South Africa at Gros Islet Series/Tournaments: ICC World Twenty20 Teams: India | South Africa

Suresh Raina struggled at first, then he sizzled. He overcame a jittery period of mis-hits and short-pitched bowling, scoring 82 off the last 38 balls he faced, en route to only the third century in Twenty20 internationals. Yuvraj Singh came back to form, Graeme Smith's reluctance to attack with Dale Steyn confounded, and India's 186 was always going to be too much on a difficult pitch and a slow and big outfield.

South Africa's reply, in the face of a four-spinner Indian attack - without using Yuvraj - was even more confounding. Jacques Kallis and Smith struggled to flow, and hesitated to take risks. Their run-rate crossed six an over for the first time in the 11th over, and it was too late by then, despite some late hitting from Kallis.

India had got off to a similar start, albeit against seamers, but unlike South Africa they threw away the caution at a more appropriate time. With two early wickets gone and both Raina and Yuvraj struggling to present the middle of the bat, India were 43 after eight overs. There was no mucking around after that. Although the odd mis-hit remained a feature of the partnership, the sweet shots grew in frequency and India got 143 in the next 12 overs. It worked for them that the mis-hits kept bouncing in front of deep fielders, and the sweet ones cleared them easily.

From the time he came to bat in the first over, Raina was given a fair share of back-of-a-length deliveries. By the time India's both irregular openers, in absence of Gautam Gambhir (down with diarrhoea), ended their struggle, Raina had survived a catch off a Morne Morkel no-ball. He would go on to survive run-out attempts from Smith and AB de Villiers, when on 37 and 47.

Match Meter SA Seamers start well: South Africa trouble India with seam movement and back-of-a-length bowling, taking out both irregular openers by the sixth over, for 32. India SA Spin brings India back: Raina and Yuvraj get stuck into first signs of spin, taking 13 off the ninth over, van der Merwe's only attempt at bowling. India Raina steps up a gear: The Raina-Yuvraj partnership gets India 88 runs and more importantly momentum. When Yuvraj gets out in the 16th over, that momentum only grows: Raina hits a six the next ball, and scores 38 off the next 12 balls he faces. India Kallis, Smith play strangely: While they struggle against spinners, South Africa's two senior-most batsmen don't take enough risks to break free, and by the end of the 10th over, the required run-rate has jumped to 13. India Kallis explodes, then burns: Upon reaching a slow fifty, Kallis opens up, hitting three sixes in two overs, but his fourth attempt ends down long-on's lap, leaving South Africa an unmanageable equation. Advantage Honours even

The introduction of spin, when Raina was 19 off 22 and Yuvraj 5 off 9, was what turned it around. In the ninth over, Roelof van der Merwe's first and only, Raina played two lovely inside-out drives to get six off two deliveries, and Yuvraj slog-swept to get six off one. That was trigger enough to shed away inhibitions. The first ball of the next over, Raina guessed a back-of-a-length delivery, backed away and slogged Kallis for six. His best shot was when he made room against a near yorker from Albie Morkel in the next over and squeezed it wide of point for four.

Yuvraj, meanwhile, had found his timing back, and took the lead in scoring, playing the effortless pick-ups, short-arm pulls, and the inside-out shots. By the time he skied one to hand, Raina, having put in the struggle, the ugly moments, was there in a position to cash in. Steyn, underused in the first half of the innings, came back well, but he was now limiting damage as opposed to causing it.

Rory Kleinveldt, who got M Vijay in the first over and Yuvraj later, was the one who suffered the most. And he was asking for it too, bowling either length or full tosses in the 18th over, and was hit to such varied areas as midwicket, cow corner, extra cover, straight over his head, and over long-off. Twenty-five came off that over, during which Raina moved from 75 to 93. He reached his century with a slogged six in the final over, which went for 19.

Raina will cherish this knock all the more because the pitch interested a variety of bowlers. South Africa had managed to assume a strong position with their hit-the-deck bowlers, India were about to do so with the spinners. Harbhajan Singh bowled the first over, Yusuf Pathan was introduced inside the Powerplay, and Loots Bosman was out of his depth on the slow pitch.

With both Kallis and Smith struggling, by the time the first piece of enterprise came, a slog-swept six from Smith in the 11th over, the required run-rate had reached 13. By the time Kallis reached his fifty, off 45 balls, they were needing 15.5 in each of the six overs to come.

Suddenly Kallis exploded, hitting three sixes in the next two overs. It seemed for the second time in 40 overs a batsman was about to put behind him the struggles and play a decisive knock. Yet, there were just too many risks required, and one of them claimed Kallis, leaving 59 to get off 21. The requirement was comfortable enough for India to be able to experiment: Praveen Kumar bowled just one over, for three runs. With two straight wins, India stormed to the second round as the table leaders.

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India v South Africa, Group C, ICC World Twenty20, St Lucia

SA look for early progression to round two

The Preview by Sidharth Monga

May 1, 2010

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Match Facts

Sunday, May 2, Gros Islet
Start time 0930 (1330 GMT)

	India lost on a slow turner at Trent Bridge the last time these sides met © Associated Press
Related Links Matches: India v South Africa at Gros Islet Series/Tournaments: ICC World Twenty20 Teams: India | South Africa

The Big Picture

India could complain about having to play two matches on the weekend and then having nothing to do over the rest of the week, but that's a price you pay for being the main commercial draw of the tournament. You play on the weekend, you play in prime time. Two of India's other three matches are on Friday and Sunday, and are meant to start at 7pm India time. They have had a good enough start to their tournament, with a win against Afghanistan, but starting against major opposition they would like to show they deserve the prime-time slots they get.

India would fancy their chances on the slower pitches against South Africa, but when the two teams last met, it was on a slow turner at Trent Bridge and India failed to chase 131. South Africa, always strong in big events, always underachieving in them, would like to ensure their place in the next round even before they play their easier match, against Afghanistan. Unless Afghanistan pull off a huge upset against South Africa, this match counts for little except for some momentum if India and South Africa meet later in a knockout match.

Form guide (most recent first)

India WWLLL
South Africa WLLWW

Watch out for...

M Vijay, the late replacement for Virender Sehwag, got his Twenty20 international career off to a good start with 48 against Afghanistan, but the big test of how well India are doing without Sehwag will come against a strong team like South Africa.

India have experienced the pace of the pitches and will bowl a lot of slow bowlers against a side not known to be the best against the spinners. In that scenario, AB de Villiers' quick foot work and soft hands will come in handy to ensure South Africa don't stall in the middle overs.

Team news

India made an interesting move against Afghanistan, picking both Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja ahead of a sixth specialist batsman. Apart from that mini dilemma, India should play the same XI.

India (possible) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 M Vijay, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Rohit Sharma/Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashish Nehra.

South Africa will like to play both their spinners. The big decision will be the choice of opener, between Herschelle Gibbs and Loots Bosman.

South Africa (possible) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Loots Bosman/Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 JP Duminy, 6 Albie Morkel, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Roelof van der Merwe, 9 Johan Botha, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Charl Langeveldt.

Pitch and conditions

After the first day of the matches in St Lucia, it is evident boundaries are not easy to come by. It is a big ground, and the outfield is slightly lush, which will put more impetus on quick running and out-cricket. The pitch is a bit slow too, which will keep the spinners interested. An early-morning start could mean a bit of moisture in the track.

Stats and trivia

• India lead the head-to-head 2-1, having won twice in South Africa before losing once in England.

• India-South Africa matches have been generally low-scoring: in the six innings between them, only once has 130 been passed, when India scored 153 in Durban and then kept South Africa to 116.

  Quotes

  "Ultimately it is an honour, a privilege to put yourself in a position to win the tournament. But it's a long way away at the moment from every team here. So we are just going to focus on India, which is our first game."
  Graeme Smith is not yet thinking about the big knockout matches

  "Most of our players look quite fresh, even after the IPL. This is something we have learned from the World Twenty in England last year. I don't think that will hamper our performances but it will be a big challenge."
  MS Dhoni says his players aren't fatigued