By CricketCountry Staff
Former Pakistan coach and currently working with the Cape Cobras, Richard Pybus has declared Indian Premier League winners Chennai Super Kings as his favourites for the Champions League T20 tournament.
Published: Sep 19, 2011, 12:25 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 19, 2011, 12:25 PM (IST)
Cape Cobras coach Richard Pybus said his team Cobras are placed in the toughest group in the tournament © Getty Images
By CricketCountry Staff
Islamabad: Sep 19, 2011
Former Pakistan coach and currently working with the Cape Cobras, Richard Pybus has declared Indian Premier League winners Chennai Super Kings as his favourites for the Champions League T20 tournament.
Pybus said, “Chennai will have their World Cup winners available and are IPL champions. They are a very serious cricket team with a very strong squad and will no doubt go into the competition full of confidence. They look like the team to beat and are favourites to me, purely because of what they have achieved recently.”
“And then there are the Mumbai Indians with the likes of Sachin (Tendulkar), Lasith Malinga and Kieron Pollard. The group is a fantastic group to be in. It’s a great group to be in because it’s about as tough as it gets. In addition there will be the qualifier team who will have done well in their domestic competition and will be a tough challenge,” he was quoted by Zee News.
Pybus claimed that CLT20 is going to be a tough contest, “Chennai, as I mentioned earlier, look like the favourites but after them, I think it`s a pretty level playing field and from what we`ve seen in previous Champions League tournaments, it`s all about hitting the ground running and getting off to a good start,” he added.
Talking about his team, Pybus said his team Cobras are placed in the toughest group in the tournament along with the Mumbai Indians, New South Wales, Chennai Super Kings and a qualifying team.
Cobras start their campaign on September 24 against the New South Wales.
“We are in a tough group. All the sides in our group are highly rated, but I am really pleased that all of our international players such as Dale Steyn, Robin Petersen and JP Duminy are available to us. In addition we have some excellent talent like Herschelle Gibbs and Owais Shah in our ranks,” said Pybus.
“New South Wales are always going to be very competitive. They are previous champions and will be very well prepared. They have included quite a number of young players so it`s difficult to know what their history is and to plan for those players,” he added.
