08 October,2009 07:31 AM IST | | Amol Karhadkar
The Champions League Twenty20 opener may well be played on the home turf of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Chinnaswamy today. But it will be more of a mini-battle between the South Africans.
Cape Cobras, the South African provincial T20 champions, will face RCB, which boasts of four star Proteas u2013 Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn and Roelof van der Merwe. Moreover, the defending Indian Premier League runners-up are coached by Ray Jennings, another South African.
The Cobras, on the other hand, will severely miss out on the services of South Africa skipper Graeme Smith.
However, that doesn't take away the star power from the Cobras squad which boasts of seven international cricketers. While Herschelle Gibbs, who preferred his home team over Deccan Chargers, will lead their charge, Jean-Paul Duminy is expected to play a major role.
RCB coach Jennings believed his team will have the upper hand since he has groomed a lot of the Cobras players.
"I have coached about 10 players who are part of the Cobras team and that can be an advantage but in the end, we have to bring our plans to the party," Jennings said.
Some of the Cobras' younger players are looking at it as an opportunity to square up against their home stars.
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"It's really nice to be playing against the South African seniors. We don't often get a chance to play against the likes of Boucher and Kallis, so it would be nice to test our skills against them," all-rounder Rory Kleinveldt told MiD DAY yesterday.
However, RCB skipper Anil Kumble highlighted the fact that it was after all his team's homecoming after a long time. "It has been a while since Royal Challengers have played in Bangalore. It's almost a year now... more than a year in fact. Everybody is looking forward to that and we will certainly take advantage of the home support,"
Kumble said.
