Gautam Gambhir will take a call on his availability for the Nokia Champions Twenty20 2011, said Shah Rukh Khan, owner of IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Having finished fourth in the IPL 2011, KKR will vie with five overseas teams for a place in the tournament proper.
The qualifying phase of the CLT20 league starts at Hyderabad on September 19 and three teams will advance to the ten-team group stage of the tournament to be played at Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai.
Gambhir, who is the captain of KKR, is recovering from concussion (caused by a heavy fall on his head during the fourth Test match against England at The Oval).
“The KKR and his own personal fitness staff will give him all support and work with them. We are in constant touch with him, but the final call about his fitness and availability for the Champions League has to be taken by him. If he's not fit, then we will invite him for a match to cheer the team.”
“I am happy that KKR, as the fourth team, has been given a chance to take part in the CLT20. Hope my team lives up to the reputation it has gained; It's time we won a tournament,'' said Khan, brand ambassador of the league that will feature 29 matches.
Responding to question on the country-versus-club issue he said: “The debate has been going on in other sports and for many years. It will continue. But having been part of the IPL for four years, I have observed that the players are keen to give their best in any match, be it country or club.”
“If you are playing sport, you are bound to get injured. If there's no pain, there's no gain. Players take a call on their fitness, but some times their decisions can go wrong and backfire. Injuries have to carefully handled. It's simple to blame the IPL for India's setbacks in England. There were other factors like weather and pitch conditions. We are all disappointed. But only recently the Indian team won the World Cup. We have to be behind the Indian team at all times.''
Khan said all the good work has been done by Sundar Raman (CEO, Nokia CLT20), D. Shivakumar (Managing Director, Nokia India) and Aloke Malik (MD, ESPN Software India).
“People expressed reservations four years ago about the format. Twenty20 is growing, entertaining and fantastic. It's soul-killing for me when KKR lost to Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens (on May 22). But we (KKR) has an outside chance now,” said Khan.
“In all, 29 cameras will be used and all live broadcast will be high definition,” said Mr. Malik at the unveiling of the brand new 16 kg Champions Trophy made of sterling silver.
