"Champion of Champions" Chennai Super Kings

[ajaybaskar]

Injured Southee out of Champions League T20

Bangalore: Tim Southee, the New Zealand and Chennai Super Kings seamer, will miss the Champions League Twenty20 after suffering a knee injury. He was supposed to join the Chennai team this week but will remain in New Zealand to undergo treatment.

"Tim has suffered some cartilage damage to his left knee while preparing for the Champions League.," John Buchanan, the New Zealand director of cricket, said. "He requires further assessment to determine the seriousness of the injury but initial signs indicate that he is unlikely to require surgery.

"He will undergo a period of intense rehabilitation and attempt to return to training shortly." Whether or not he will be available for New Zealand's tour of Zimbabwe next month will be made known later, Buchanan added.

Southee won the award for the ICC Twenty20 Performance of the Year for his spell of 5 for 18 against Pakistan in Auckland. He has picked up 74 wickets in 59 Twenty20 matches at 23.05 but has been expensive, conceding 8.07 runs an over. He'd been in good form of late in Twenty20 cricket and took 6 for 16, including a hat-trick, for Essex against Glamorgan in the Friends Life T20 in July.

Chennai, the defending champions, play their first Champions League game on September 24.

[ajaybaskar]

'MSD driving force behind CSK success'

New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris, who retired from International cricket after the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, will head into the Nokia Champions League Twenty20 at the back of a strong season with Essex in the English County Championships. The 36-year-old, who will represent Chennai Super Kings in the mega tournament, spoke extensively on his build-up to the glitzy event in an exclusive chat with ESPNSTAR.com.

Shashank Kishore: How much pressure will there be on CSK, considering that you will be going into the tournament as defending champions?

Scott Styris: There is always pressure on us. Chennai Super Kings have won 3 tournaments in a row, so everyone will be out to take us down. Pressure is a part of competitive cricket and we have to learn to deal with it. We have been in 'backs to the wall situations' before and come out triumphs. So we are all geared up for the challenge.

SK: You are coming out of an intense county stint with Essex. How different is the standard of T20 cricket in England as compared to the IPL?

SS: The difference is mainly in the size of the crowds and the intense focus of the media, to be honest. At Essex we almost always had sell out crowd who were fantastic, but that is still only about 6500 people, unlike at Eden Gardens where you have 80,000 fans watching an IPL game. The standard cricket is fantastic, and equal if not better than the IPL, but of course you have only 2 overseas players, unlike 4 foreigners in the IPL.

SK: You didn't get to play much in the IPL season. How difficult was it to keep yourself motivated, especially where you are spoilt for choice when it comes to the international players?

SS: It is very tough at times; I'd be lying if I said it wasn't. But, you can't get down against the rules, which permits only four overseas players. At the end of the day, you’ve to remain prepared in the best possible way and hope the coach comes knocking to say you're playing and if not help the other guys prepare in the best possible manner.

SK: What is the one thing that differentiates CSK from the other teams?

SS: I can only separate Chennai Super Kings from maybe Deccan Chargers. CSK have made a big push for continuity and ensuring in the sense that they didn't want to dilute fan loyalty. I'm sure our fans have an instant connect with the team has the same nucleus. As one of the 'outsiders' All I can do is fit in with the way Dhoni, Fleming and our team principal Gurunath Meiyappan who are the driving force for the team.

SK: CSK have an enviable record at home. You were unbeaten in Chennai this season. Will there be any added pressure on the side? What is the key to invincibility?

SS: You either embrace pressure or learn to handle it or let it eat you up. We will have more pressure on us than normal. Chepauk has been a fortress but I think it was more to do with the quality of the side than the ground. Many times last IPL, we were under pressure, yet the team came through. That speaks volumes for the kind of set up we have.

SK: Which team do you see as the biggest threat in this year's edition of CLT20?

SS: We are in a tough group and all sides are competitive. We can't really worry about who is stronger or at par with us. We have to just focus on winning each game and takes things as they come. The tournament format is such that it still allows you to comeback despite a bad game, so there are no excuses for let ups. All I can say is we are not concerned about composition of other sides, I believe if we focus on getting our priorities right, we will win it.

SK: You have spent a lot of time on and off the field with Stephen Fleming. Now he is the coach. Has the equation changed? What are his special traits

SS: Yes I have, firstly as captain and now as coach. So basically he has been my boss throughout my professional career! He coaches in the same way he captained the Black Caps. He is very relaxed and gives the praises when the guys deserve it. He can also be harsh at times and give a kick up the backside when they need it. His emotion remains pretty level which is always good for a leader, no matter what industry they are in.

SK: Will there be any specific adjustments you have to make to your game playing in India after spending the last few months on nippy wickets in England?

SS: Not really. The wickets were surprisingly quite slow and low in the UK, almost pretty similar to in India. It's just a matter of hitting the ground running in the Champions League as you can't afford to take a game or two to find your feet.

[ajaybaskar]

Raina's tweet dated 20th Sep..

Off to chennai tom.... Nala erke maachi.....

[scorpio]

Rainavukku TN Ration card parcel

[ajaybaskar]

Scorpio,

Planning to watch any match this time?

[scorpio]

AB- Illai. Ticket prices are so cheap compared to IPL aanaa CSK aadumbOthu kaNNai moodittu ukkararadhukku edhukku nEra pOganum-nnu veetla thadaa pOttutaanga

If CSK reaches final ( I pray it should), I may reconsider and go for the final.

[scorpio]

AB- Oru doubt, orE naaL-la rendu match irukkum pOdhu, 8'o clock match ticket holders-ai previous match mudinja aprum thaan uLLa viduvaangaLaa? Previous match mudiyavE 7 maNikku mEla aagidum, stadium-la orE adithadi nadakkadhaa?

[ajaybaskar]

Scorpio,

Tickets are valid for both the matches. I bought ticket for CSK Vs Cape Cobras on 28th. With that ticket, I can watch the 1st match (New South Wales Blues Vs Q2) as well. One stone..two mangoes. Otherwise who is gonna come to watch the match between non indian teams?

[scorpio]

AB- That's nice, thanks

[ajaybaskar]

Nuwan Kulasekara replaces injured Tim Southee