Picking Every 2014 CLT20 Team's Most Dangerous Player
The Champions League Twenty20 competition features a stellar array of cricketers, but who are the most dangerous players on each team?
This tournament brings 12 different squads from across the globe together and although the likes of Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings will be familiar, some of the other sides are far from household names.
So, here is each club's must-watch, game-changing, one-in-a-million star man!
For the record, the players have been selected based on their intangible ability to win matches rather than pure black and white statistics alone.
*All statistics are based on non-international T20 performances and are courtesy of ESPN Cricinfo unless specified.
Barbados Tridents: Neil McKenzie
1 of 12
T20 Matches: 143
Runs: 3,129
Average: 34.38
Strike rate: 119.83
With Shoaib Malik, Dwayne Smith and Kieron Pollard all playing for other teams in the CLT20, the current Caribbean Premier League champions, Barbados, need Neil McKenzie to step up to the plate.
The 38-year-old veteran of 58 Tests may have just played two T20 Internationals for South Africa, but his vast experience, garnered from playing in various domestic leagues over the years, could be crucial.
If he can put a disastrous personal CPL campaign, where he scored just 18 runs in four completed innings, behind him, McKenzie remains a skilled batsman who can time a run chase with the precision of a Swiss watch.
Cape Cobras: Hashim Amla
2 of 12
T20 Matches: 68
Runs: 1,741
Average: 28.08
Strike rate: 122.77
Known primarily as a classical batsman adept at occupying the crease, letting balls go, and scoring huge hundreds, Hashim Amla is more than capable of winning games of white-ball cricket.
While the likes of Richard Levi, at the start of the innings, and JP Duminy, towards the end, could provide the fireworks, it is the South African Test skipper's job to jell things together and keep the scoreboard ticking over fluently for the Cape Cobras.
And, as evidenced by a strike rate of over 122 at domestic and international levels of T20 cricket, if some of the bigger hitters fail, Amla is more than capable of stepping things up himself.
Chennai Super Kings: Brendon McCullum
3 of 12
T20 Matches: 192
Runs: 5,443
Average: 32.20
Strike rate: 133.86
Even in a side as jam-packed with talent as the Chennai Super Kings, the ultra-aggressive Brendon McCullum's name jumps out.
While his full-time job is captaining New Zealand, in his spare time, the 32-year-old travels the world as something of a T20 mercenary, batting the only way he knows how. See his blistering 158 in the IPL's first ever match.
McCullum's partnership at the top of the CSK order with Dwayne Smith, is just one of the reasons that MS Dhoni's men are such formidable opponents.
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Dolphins: Kyle Abbott
4 of 12
T20 Matches: 45
Wickets: 41
Average: 27.75
Economy rate: 7.28
With a team comprised purely of South Africans and perhaps lacking "household" names, many people will write off the Dolphins' chances. But if Kyle Abbott hits the ground running, then this youthful side could be a real handful.
The skilful paceman has taken 12 scalps in his two Tests and took the second highest amount of wickets in the 2014 Ram Slam Challenge, the Rainbow nation's premier T20 competition.
In the shortest form of cricket, Abbott tends to bowl the first couple of overs in the innings concentrating on a classic off-stump line before coming on at the death to deliver block-hole yorkers.
Hobart Hurricanes: Ben Dunk
5 of 12
T20 Matches: 38
Runs: 797
Average: 24.15
Strike rate: 124.72
It has been a meteoric rise for Ben Dunk, who was a relatively unknown cricketer before the 2013/14 instalment of Australia's Big Bash League.
But 395 runs later—81 clear of his next closest rival at the top of the BBL run scorers chart—and the hard-hitting left-hander is a sought after commodity around T20 circles.
And the Hobart Hurricanes will need Dunk at his ferocious best, getting them off to some flying starts...especially when they face their own usual captain, George Bailey, who is playing for Kings XI Punjab.
Kings XI Punjab: Glenn Maxwell
6 of 12
T20 Matches: 98
Runs: 1874
Average: 23.42
Strike rate: 159.76
It says something when, in a side containing luminaries such as Virender Sehwag and Mitchell Johnson, most focus and attention will be on the enigmatic Glenn Maxwell.
The precocious batsman took the T20 world by storm with his performances in the 2014 IPL, where he almost single-handedly blasted Kings XI Punjab into the final with 552 runs at an incredible strike rate of over 187.
Since then, the Australian all-rounder has maintained his scintillating white-ball form, blasting runs for his country and for Hampshire. And a return to the predictable Indian surfaces should yield more rapid scoring.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine
7 of 12
T20 Matches: 139
Wickets: 177
Average: 16.29
Economy rate: 5.46
Forsaking the somewhat less-glamourous task of a Test series against Bangladesh in order to play in the CLT20, Sunil Narine will play a key role for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
The Trinidadian's seductive spin claimed 21 scalps in the IPL champions' successful 2014 campaign and he is currently ranked second in the ICC Player Rankings for T20 bowlers.
Even when he's not taking wickets, Narine's exemplary control keeps the opposition's run rate to a bare minimum making him a highly prized asset and match winner.
Lahore Lions: Mohammad Hafeez
8 of 12
T20 Matches: 149
Runs: 3,411
Strike rate: 126.80
Wickets: 124
Economy rate: 6.21
Although he was recently dropped from the Pakistan Test team, there is no uncertainty hanging over Mohammad Hafeez's head at the CLT20.
The 33-year-old leads a talented Lahore Lions side that will be desperate to do well on Indian soil, and their clash with Mumbai in the qualifying group should be a cracker.
In this form of the game, Hafeez is a genuine all-rounder and can win games on two fronts. His typically wristy stroke play makes him a threat at the top of the order while his deceiving off breaks have entrapped many of the world's best batsmen.
Mumbai Indians: Lasith Malinga
9 of 12
T20 Matches: 198
Wickets: 264
Average: 17.85
Economy rate: 6.59
Of course you could make an argument for Kieron Pollard, Mike "Mr Cricket" Hussey, and the upcoming Corey Anderson being Mumbai's most dangerous player but Lasith Malinga gets the nod.
If you want one man to bowl an over at the end of a tight game, then the wild-haired Sri Lankan ace's stock of toe-crunching, almost unplayable yorkers make him the man.
Despite giving up Test cricket due to persistent knee trouble, Malinga is the leading T20 wicket taker of all time with an astonishing haul of 264 scalps.
Northern Districts: Trent Boult
10 of 12
T20 Matches: 33
Wickets: 31
Average: 27.48
Economy rate: 7.78
New Zealand's Northern Districts are undoubtedly one of the underdog teams of the CLT20 but with a well-balanced team that includes the exciting Trent Boult, who knows what is possible.
The left-arm seamer hasn't played a huge amount of T20 cricket but, providing he can adapt to the Indian wickets, this could be his break-out tournament in the 20 over format.
Capable of bowling at a challenging pace while moving the ball both ways, Boult, alongside his Black Caps colleague Tim Southee, present a high-quality opening bowling duo.
Perth Scorchers: Brad Hogg
11 of 12
T20 Matches: 95
Wickets: 97
Average: 23.25
Economy rate: 6.83
He may be 43—an age where most cricketers are firmly ensconced in various sections of the media box—but Brad Hogg is still a threat in T20 cricket.
And with the Perth Scorchers missing the retired Simon Katich, they will be looking for the wily spinner to keep chipping out wickets and delivering his miserly overs if they are to make an impact in India.
Hogg, who played for Australia's T20 team earlier this year, can also provide some late-order runs, making him an important part of the Western Australian outfit.
Southern Express T20: Kusal Perera
12 of 12
T20 Matches: 57
Runs: 1063
Average: 20.84
Strike rate: 121.90
Often compared to Sanath Jayasuriya in terms of appearance and style, Kusal Perera has yet to live up to those giddy heights.
But the silky left-hander has shown odd flashes of his undoubted talent and is a fearless cutter and puller when given the space.
With the experienced Tillakaratne Dilshan pulling out of the tournament due to family commitments, it is high time Perera delivered some significant runs at the top of the Southern Express order.
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