Juan Theron in SA T20 squad

The South African cricket Board has named the T20 squad for the Caribbean tournament starting April 30th. Juan Theron is the only new and uncapped player.

Good signs for South Africa is that Graeme Smith who went back home from IPL suffering an injury will be alright and will lead the team in the Cup.

However, Wayne Parnell and Justin Kemp who got themselves injured in the IPL won’t get a chance to play in the T20 World Cup.

In Parnell’s absence, Juan Theron who impressed everyone by leading the bowling attack of KXIP from the front in IPL and won the match for them has been given a place in the squad.

With the presence of Rory Kleinveldt, the all rounder adds depth to both bowling and batting. He was a part of the Under 19 team and is in fine form now.

The Coach of South Africa told:-

I am delighted that we have Graeme Smith back from injury to lead us in this campaign. At the same time it is sad to lose players of the calibre of Wayne Parnell and Justin Kemp.

Rory Kleinveldt will be a good like-for-like replacement for Parnell. He is capable of opening the bowling or operating at first change and he has also been a regular death bowler for the Cobras which is an important area for us. Rory also gives us some good batting options down the order

Rusty Theron has impressed everybody both with his skills and his temperament both in domestic cricket and in the Indian Premier League. He was a key player for the Warriors in doing the domestic limited overs double.

South Africa are placed with India and Afghanisthan in the Cup.

SQUAD:-

Graeme Smith (capt), Jacques Kallis, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Rory Kleinveldt, Charl Langeveldt, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Juan Theron, Roelof van der Merwe

Preview: KKR vs RCB

Preview: KKR vs RCB

Kolkata Knight Riders VS Royal Challengers Bangalore

Venue: EDEN GARDENS, KOLKATA

Date: 14^th March, 2010

Time: 3pm

Kolkata Knight Riders
With ‘Miracle-Coach’ Dav Whatmore at the helm and Bengal’s dearest Dada running affairs on the pitch, the Knight Riders would want to put last season’s horrendous run behind them and start afresh. After winning the 1^st game, they will try to prove that the win was not just a fluke. Sourav who failed to score in the last match will try to shut the crtics’ mouths. Owais Shah and Angelo Mathews need to keep up the form they showed in the match against DC. Bowling seems to have improved thanks to the tips and tricks of the legendary Wasim Akram. Team’s bowling comprises of pace batteries like Ishant and Langaveldt and if they hold up, we may see a resurgence of the Dark Knights.
KEY PLAYERS: Sourav Ganguly, Angelo Mathews, Ishant Sharma, Charl langaveldt

Royal Challengers Bangalore

This year, Bangalore boast of a very strong team indeed, with fantastic hitters of the likes of Ross Taylor, Cameron White, Kevin Pietersen and new signing Eoin Morgan, and the dependability of South Africans Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher. They also possess possibly the best of the local batting talent, in dynamic and ambitious youngsters Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa, apart from stalwart Rahul Dravid. Skipper Anil Kumble leads the bowling attack that also boasts of the likes of test No.1 Dale Steyn. On paper they look strong enough to do an encore of last year’s final appearance. With an inspiring captain at the helm, one cannot rule out them going all the way.

KEY PLAYER: Jacques Kallis, Manish Pandey, Dale Steyn, Anil Kumble

SQUADS:

RCB: Jacques Kallis, Manish Pandey, Srivats Goswami, Vinay Kumar, Bhuvanesh Kumar, K P Appanna, Eoin Morgan, Akhil Balachandra, A Mithun, Steven Smith, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Robin Uthappa, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, Dillon Du Preez, Cameron White, Ross Taylor, Kevin Pietersen, Roelof van der Merwe, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, S Sriram

KKR: Sourav Ganguly(C), Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, Brad Hodge, Owais Shah, Manoj Tiwari, Rohan Gavaskar, Chirag Pathak, Cheteswar Pujara, Harshad Khadiwale, Wriddhiman Shah, Angelo Matthews, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Ganapati Vignesh, Ajit Agarkar, Varun Aron, Iqbal Abdulla, Eklakh Ahmed, Ashoke Dinda, Ajantha Mendis, Charl Langeveldt, Murali Karthik, Ishant Sharma