'CLT20 chance for foreigners to hone skills, make money'

Bangalore, Sep 21 (IANS) Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming here Sunday said the Champions League Twenty20 gives an opportunity to foreign cricketers to hone their skills and make money.

"Non-Indian players view this tournament as an excellent concept for honing their cricketing skills and earning money, which makes them financially secure," Fleming said ahead of CSK's Group A tie against Dolphins, from South Africa, Monday at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here.

Annually held during September-October since 2008, the shorter version of the game is played between the top domestic T20 teams of seven cricketing nations -- Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and the West Indies.

The tournament, with a total prize money of $6 million (Rs.36 crore), is jointly owned by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) and has been held till date in India and South Africa.

"The tournament also gives all players an opportunity to break from international pressure they face when playing for their respective countries," the former New Zealand skipper said.

Admitting that CLT20 was not on par with the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) in drawing frenzied fans in droves to stadiums, Fleming said CLT20 did not have the intensity of the IPL as it has more foreign franchises vying without domestic flavour.

"It is a difficult task for neutral teams, playing anywhere in the world to get a decent crowd and build up intensity in the tournament. It is too much to expect Indian fans to support such teams," Fleming asserted.

Noting that the organisers would love to rope in more countries to expand the tournament's profile, Fleming said due to busy schedules, involving a lot of travel and games in different formats, it was not possible to make CLT20 as popular as IPL.

"If we have more time in the congested cricket window, I am sure the organisers would love to include other countries and expand it. But it is not possible with the manner in which so much of cricket is being played," Fleming observed.

For the few lucky players able to play in the team, it is an opportunity to enjoy of being together and taking a break from international pressure.

"There are some IPL captains who enjoy coming here playing in the tournament for two or three weeks," Fleming pointed out.

Observing that bowling in death overs was a challenge for every T20 team, the veteran coach said the boys had to use more skills than speed under pressure as the hitting power of batsmen had only improved.

"It is really a difficult task for death bowlers to deliver in such situations. No team in the world is comfortable bowling them barring a team having Lasith Malinga. We saw this in late Saturday's match when two sixes were hit of the last two deliveries of a good death bowler," Fleming recalled.