Fast becoming the most popular form of cricket, the lastest tournament to use the 20 over format the Champions League T20 begins on Thursday the 8th of October in India. Apart from being the most crowd friendly version of the game, Indian cricket legend Rahul Dravid thinks that it is the perfect platform to expose youngsters to an international level of cricket, without the risks of pushing to much on to them to quickly, it's only 20 overs after all.
Source: Champions League T20 Official website
Soon after returning from India's disappointing campaign in the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, Rahul Dravid had to switch from the India Blue jersey to the red and yellow of Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, the former India skipper said that although the Royal Challengers unit was made of players from different parts of the globe, and despite not being in contact with most of them since the final of IPL-II, there was an instant bonding when the team members assembled for Champions League T20 tournament.
Recalling the atmosphere during the very first team meeting, Dravid said, "Obviously the challenge going into tournaments like the Champions League or IPL is that players come from different places and assemble together just a few days before the start of the tournament. It is one of the tricky things with tournaments like these.
"But having said that, this squad has played together in two tournaments - the team hasn't changed much across the two IPLs. So, as soon as we all got together, there was a sense of bonding. We've spent a lot of time together in the past and we all know each other pretty well."
The former India captain also took the opportunity to acknowledge and appreciating cricket boards world over for taking the initiative to organize tournaments like the IPL and Champions League. Dravid said, "Tournaments like the IPL and Champions League are providing a lot more opportunities to youngsters today. It is great to see a lot of cricketers who'd normally be playing in the Ranji Trophy or in other domestic competitions experience the international feel.
"Thanks to tournaments like the IPL and Champions League, today we have a larger pool of players who are getting seen on television and their performances are getting recognized. Such tournaments are a great platform for players to utilize for higher honours."
