Hyderabad: Depleted by the absence of some high-profile cricketers, IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders will have a tough task at hand when they lorn horns with the formidable Chennai Super Kings in the opening Group A match of Champions League T20 here on Wednesday. Buoyed by their thumping success in the IPL T20 tournament this year, KKR is raring to go for the kill in the Champions League but their build-up to the tournament has been plagued by injuries to Chris Lynn and Morne Morkel and the absence of Shakib Al Hasan, who failed to get an NOC from the Bangladesh Cricket Association.
Led by Gautam Gambhir, the team has not given a good account of itself in the CLT20 competitions so far as even though they reached the Group Stage in 2011 and 2012 editions, they failed to go beyond.
"Our record in Champions League is not that great. Hopefully we have to rectify that. There is lot to play for.The Kolkata side has practiced hard, including playing a practice match with Hyderabad XI, at the Rajiv Gandhi cricket stadium here on Tuesday. In the 20 overs practice match, Kallis scored 58 runs (43b, 3x4,4x6).
The 2010 champions, Chennai, led by Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, are equally poised to put their best foot forward. In a big boost for the team, seasoned Dwayne Bravo is back in the side.
"We have a very good side. About the chances, it all depends on how well we adapt. The good thing for us will be, we missed Bravo during the IPL. He got injured. That really affected the strength of the side, that combination and stability of the side. It is good to have him back," Dhoni said.
"Also, most of the players have been playing international cricket and most of them have scored runs in the recent series. So, it's looking good. Still, we will have to see how quickly we adapt to the conditions," he added. The Chennai outfit has some brilliant players like Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Francois du Plessis in their ranks who make it a formidable force.
