espnstar.com’s Rajarshi Gupta looks at some of the teams playing the CL T20 and wonders how they will fare.

There is always a catch when you have the best in world fighting it out for one title. No one wants to use the word favourite. No one is assured of being covered in glory. No one knows who will strike when and who steals the thunder when it matters.

The Airtel Champions League Twenty20 is one such arena. The gladiators are ready for war.

Come to think of it, tongues have wagged on how the Indian Premier League teams will be in a position to exploit the home advantage and how conditions in India will perfectly suit them.

That may well be the case but not beyond the realms of experience. Sri Lanka’s Wayamba Elevens skipper Jehan Mubarak agreed that talks of home advantage have been built up for every series at any level. Nothing new there.

What will be new is the kind of quality and splendour that will be on view from Thursday. For men of class and unquestioned honour, trivialities like ‘local conditions’ do not occupy more than a chat over dinner.

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Mubarak for instance had a very plain argument. A lot of his players like Mahela Jayawardene, Fervez Mahroof and Ajantha Mendis have tasted blood on Indian shores. How different are wickets in India and Sri Lanka? Not much, really.

“You are right, the wickets are not very different back home and we are all pretty familiar with conditions here in India. Our chances are very bright and we have the boys to do the job for us.”

With Rangana Herath and Mendis in the spinning department, Jayawardene and Mubarak in the batting list and Mahroof holding high in the all-rounder’s role, Wayamba have the right to sniff gold.

So do the Victorian Bushrangers, a proud bunch of men, who think they have it in them to set the stands on fire.

An able skipper and all-rounder in Cameron White does wonders to a line-up, which boasts of Peter Siddle, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Rob Quiney, wily leg-spinner Bryce McGain.

Most of them make the core of the Australian team and have played integral roles in the country’s recent redemption in limited overs cricket.

The New South Wale Blues are just as powerful. Think of their skipper Simon Katich, David Warner, Brett Lee, Phillip Hughes, Stuart Clark and Nathan Hauritz. An Australian on the rampage is never good news for the opposition on the field.

They have played in India before, a bulk of them have. How much did conditions matter to them? They have come, seen and conquered with alarming consistency.

The IPL teams have or may have an advantage but let that not be an overwhelming aspect on how the Championship rolls out.

The Sussex Sharks for instance have Indian leggie Piyush Chawla in their ranks. The kid knows wickets here and can land a blow. He would have certainly spoken to his skipper and Michael Yardy confirmed as much.

“Well yes, Chawla has spoken to us on how the wickets play and I think most of the lads are ready for the challenge. It is how we shape out that day and play on the field.”

Yardy, who has also played ODI’s and T20’s for England pointed out that the IPL is a very well run league and the teams that have come through will obviously be dangerous for the sheer dint of players they have.

Now, that is the point. The Delhi Daredevils have Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag to make sure the Bushrangers and Waymaba Elevens are never short of nightmares ahead of their openers.

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The Deccan Chargers, led by the destructive Adam Gilchrist will always be a threat and a team blended with international class and Indian youth will always be a unit to watch out for, especially with their IPL success in South Africa.

Anil Kumble will lead a resurgent Royal Challengers Bangalore and with Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis looking as good as they did in South Africa, it will be one hell of a show.

Forget the local conditions now. Twenty20 cricket is a lot more than that. Things can change and change fast. The captains know that and their men are not game to take any chances. They will, most certainly, hone their skills to kill.