AMIDST THE match fixing drama being played out in international cricket
, the Airtel Champions League is all set to give the fans some respite from unsavoury allegations and dish out some top quality cricket. With hardly a week to go for Champions League T20 to begin, the teams have started to land in South Africa but they are also suffering a peculiar handicap as some of the key players will be missing in action due to various reasons.
The Central Stags from New Zealand landed in Johannesburg Thursday evening while the matches get underway from next Friday. On the first day of the tournament, Mumbai Indians will be pitched against Highveld Lions from South Africa at the Wanderers which is also Lions' home turf.
However, Stags will be devoid of their two important players, Ross Taylor and Jacob Oram. Taylor has opted to play for his IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore while Oram is recuperating an injured knee. Central Stags being the New Zealand champions has previously won HRV Cup, when with the help of Taylor they managed to crush Auckland. Taylor had smashed 80 off 30 balls. Stags play against IPL-3 winners Chennai Super Kings at Kingsmead in Durban.
Stags are the second team that has arrived in South Africa after Mumbai Indians. The latter have been put up in Durban.
Post the spot fixing scandal that has taken the cricketing world by storm, the Indian IPL franchises are under a lot of pressure as they were not able to put up a good show in the previous versions of this tournament. Royal Challengers Bangalore will miss key players like Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan and same goes with Chennai Super Kings as they will have to face the opponents without Andrew Flintoff.
On the more glamorous front, Champions League T20 roped in Indian mega star Amitabh Bachchan as their brand ambassador. The promotion has already created a stir amongst the people and they cannot stop raving about it.