Champions League: Big guns geared up for exciting opener

“For CSK, the good thing is the core group has remained the same. And, with Dwayne Bravo back from injury, the stability is back. We are a different side. We rely on different stuff,” Dhoni said.

The main draw of the Champions League T20 could not have featured a more exciting opener than the one between the star-studded line-ups of Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders.

The two teams will clash under lights at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Wednesday. However, dark clouds hovered over the venue on Tuesday evening with the possibility of sharp showers later on.

The contest will see CSK captain M.S. Dhoni lead a side which has the likes of the in-form Suresh Raina, Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis and Brendon McCullum.

The pace bowling department comprises Ashish Nehra, Mohit Sharma and Ishwar Pandey, while the spin department looks strong, with R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and leggie Samuel Badree in the CSK ranks.

“For CSK, the good thing is the core group has remained the same. And, with Dwayne Bravo back from injury, the stability is back. We are a different side. We rely on different stuff,” Dhoni said.

For two-time IPL champion KKR, captain Gautam Gambhir is expected to lead from the front while players like Jacques Kallis, Robin Uthappa, Yusuf Pathan and Manish Pandey can test any bowling attack.

The KKR bowling has a lot of variety in the form of pace bowlers Umesh Yadav, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins and Vinay Kumar, and spinners Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla.

KKR captain Gautam Gambhir believes that, unlike the IPL, the CL T20 format doesn’t give many chances to come back after you hit a rough patch.

“You have to be on the button always. The biggest challenge is that we have to be ready for them. At this level you cannot treat any team lightly. All are here to give their best,” he said.