Previewing the Champions League T20: Royal Challengers Bangalore
The second edition of the Champions League T20 starts on September 11, 2010 and there will be ten teams taking part. Royal Challengers Bangalore are the third team from the IPL which had managed to qualify for the Champions League.
How they got there:
Royal Challengers Bangalore began the IPL 2010 rather superbly. They had lost their first game to the Kolkata Knight Riders but went on to win four games in a row to go to the top of the points table. However, this was followed by only one win from five games, which pegged the side back.
Bangalore’s issue was that their side’s good performances revolved around two major factors; aggressive batting in the slog overs and fine, quick bowling relying on the bounce in the tracks.
Unfortunately, as the tournament wore on, the tracks around the country became slower and made it difficult for the Bangalore side on both counts – batting became harder against spinners, and bowling for the quicker bowlers became difficult as well.
It was that excellent start at the beginning of the tournament that allowed Bangalore to scrape through with a couple of wins in the end, despite tying with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Knight-c71599 Riders with 14 points.
However, they met a rampaging Mumbai Indians in the semi-finals and were beaten before they scraped through once again to the Champions League T20 berth with a win in the game for the third place against Deccan Chargers.
Strengths:
Their pace bowling is their best suit. And the fact to be looked at is that in the month of September – when the tournament will be played – the tracks in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 have a lot of juice in them and hence should assist the Bangalore bowlers.
Weaknesses:
The Bangalore side could lose some of their English players, like Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan to their international commitments, and they may require a paradigm shift in their strategy. The South African pair of Jacques Kallis and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Dale-c52110 Steyn may have to be bought by paying $200,000 each.
Players to watch out for:
One of the players that many Indians may be interested in is http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Robin-Uthappa-c2356. Uthappa was one of those who dazzled the crowds during the IPL but was then ruled out of any international commitments due to injury. He underwent surgery after that, and it has been said that he should be fit to play for the Royal Challengers. What remains to be seen is whether he is able to maintain the same kind of aggression on tracks that clearly have something for the bowlers.
Apart from that, the bowling of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Anil-Kumble-c44737 will be of supreme importance, given that quality spinners will be required in the tournament.
Bangalore’s fixtures:
Bangalore will play Guyana on September 12, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 on September 19, Lions on September 21.
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