Champions League 2010: Any Real Takers??

So the Chennai Super Kings have won the second edition of the Champions League but I still cannot get my head around the reason for hosting such tournaments. Just looking around, it seems that no one was really interested in whatever happened in South Africa, not at least in my part of the world. The matches had no build-up in terms of team rivalries or anything significant, there were no special players who have emerged from the tournament and apart from Dhoni who seemed pretty happy to add another trophy in 2010, no one really seemed really interested or desperate enough to put-in blood and sweat to win the matches. The regional players of  T20 teams from around the world were overshadowed by the three Indian teams
that participated. That is another question I had in mind: how come three IPL teams get to qualify as against just one each from the rest of cricket-playing nations? Does this mean that IPL teams are superior to the runners-up in the English county league or for that matter, other T20 teams that finished second and third in their respective national leagues?? Just doesn't make any sense to me...well anyways, as Ravi Shastri said recently, in his typically mundane style of commentating that the "sponsors" are beginning to understand the worth of such tournaments....well, that is all that seems to matter in the world of cricket these days. You should confirm that with an individual called Salman Butt!!

Hayden’s got a racquet instead of a bat!!

Yes, as unbelievable it may sound, Matthew Hayden of Australia has got some sort of a half-racquet, half-bat for the third edition of the IPL. Many people had suggested that the increasing amount T20 cricket being played in these days would eventually lead to further changes in the way batsmen approached their game, and this includes the gear and the equipment they use. If you look at it, Big Matty’s new bat has an extremely long handled and the actual meat of the bat is just about 80% of a conventional bat. I guess, it means that he is planning to stand on his backfoot and use his bat for swinging across the line even more now. Just one question though—wasn’t Hayden scary enough for the bowlers with his old bat that he had to bring something so ridiculous looking and so far-off from the norm?