Hours before the opening game, Johannesburg was treated to a gala opening night they won’t forget in a while.

By Rajarshi Gupta in Johannesburg

Finally it’s here. The Airtel CL T20 2010 was launched in all glory in a star studded opening night in Johannesburg as 20,000 fans thronged to cheer on the 10 captains and Enrique, who set the stage on fire.

Exactly two months since football World Cup was over, South Africa seems ready for yet another carnival. And they are all pumped up here. Cabbies, the man on the street and even the porter at the hotel- they cannot wait to see the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 kick off.

The Wanderers, which is to host the opening game between Mumbai Indians and Highveld Lions, is geared up for action. The high-octane music, the practicing cheer-girls and the usual humdrum of high-tech TV production apart, the two teams trained fairly hard- albeit in optional sessions.

Even as the excitement kept building up inside the ground, some cricket enthusiasts were left rattled- having travelled all the way from Centurion and Pretoria, they realised there were no tickets to be had! Yes, the inaugural match was a sell-out a good few days before game day.

And why wouldn’t it be? Mumbai Indians, one of the strongest teams in the competition has a huge support base in Johannesburg. From local kids to Indian traders, Sachin Tendulkar is as big an enigma as he is back home. The IPL runners-up do look extremely strong on paper- what with Zaheer Khan back in the fold too. Of course their strength lies in an all-round team composition that leaves no room for the opposition to be complacent.

Mumbai go about their cricket much like their captain does- calm, composed and relentless. The likes of Dwayne Bravo, Lasith Malinga, Zaheer will be key to Mumbai’s success in these conditions. It does get a little chilly in the night and the ball will do a lot under the lights and the speed trinity will be licking their fingers if they do defend a sizeable total.

The batting looks as solid as ever with Tendulkar leading from the front. Kieron Pollard, Shikhar Dhawan, JP Duminy and Saurabh Tiwary know what their job is and they will just keep coming at the Lions- who many feel will be under tremendous pressure to live up to their domestic reputation.

The Highveld Lions may not have top notch stars in their line-up but make no mistake they are a fighting bunch. The likes of Alviro Petersen and Neil Mckenzie have made sure their players don’t get too overawed by the star-packed Mumbai Indians. For most in the Lions squad, it will be a first to see the likes of Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Malinga up so close- let alone having ever played them.

However, Mckenzie refused to go on as underdogs in the tournament: “Playing in itself will be a huge opportunity so we are not looking at the tags people set for us.”

The Lions under Petersen will be a tough unit to crack. Jo’burg is located at a slightly higher altitude and with the winter still receding, players from across the globe might find it just a little difficult to get used to it. But McKenzie did not think that would play a factor at all. “Look, the altitude might have played a factor in track games and athletics in general. We had the football World Cup a few months back in the winters so I don’t see a problem now.”

With the likes of Shane Burger, Jean Symes and Cliff Deacons, the Lions will fancy their chances under lights, Twenty20 as a format leaves very little room for error and both sides would be aware of that. The conditions will favour the fast men but they need to guard against getting too carried away. Like Bravo said: “TA Shekhar (bowling coach) has been working with the bowlers and they all seem to be in fine shape.”

It is all ready for D Day in Johannesburg. After a sensational opening night, where the captains, well some of them, let their hair down for a while, wishing each other in the best spirits, there was a feeling that the ACLT20 this year would be a much bigger hit than it was in 2009. Given how thousands thronged to see Enrique perform but went berserk with sheer delight when the ten captains came on stage minutes before the show was exciting to say the least.

Most of those who had turned up with their partners, wives and kids may not have been glued in to cricket but the Twenty20 extravaganza is not something they want to let go off- “It is the CL T20 and it is South Africa- we like it, we like it” said a fan as he drifted into the darkness of the night towards his waiting car.

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