IPL teams have had a contrasting Champions League so far when compared to last years edition.  In last years edition Deccan Chargers, Delhi Devils, Royal Challengers Bangalore had an indifferent tournament inspite of having the home advantage.  This edition the IPl tams have performed better and that too in alien conditions.

To begin with Mumbai Indians lost the match but one must admit it was primarily because of poor tactics aided by poor bowling and poor fielding.  Skipper Sachin Tendulkar erred in putting Lions to bat at Johannesburg in the inaugural match on 10th September and once they  made 186 aided by mediocre bowling led by Zaheer Khan who conceded 45 runs in 4 overs without even picking up a wicket the result was a foregone conclusion.  However the brilliance of Sachin Tendulkar ensured that Mumbai Indians were well in control of a match as good as lost before they started their innings.  When Sachin left having scored a brilliant 69 in just 42 deliveries, Mumbai Indians needed 56 runs in 33 deliveries which was attainable by T20 standards considering that Mumbai Indians had 6 wickets in hand which included the likes of Sathish and big hitting Pollard and Harbhajan Singh.  Eventhough Mumbai lost the match credit must be given to them because they were in the match for most of the time.

Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore had no problems whatsoever thrashing their opponents Central Districts and Guyana comfortably at Durban and Centurion on 12thSeptember 2010. If one were to go by the performances of the IPL teams one can say that one of the IPL teams should be the favorites to win the tournament or at least make it to the next stages comfortably.

It looks that last time around Champions League tournament was rushed in and IPL teams were not mentally prepared to participate in the tournament or were not familiar with the tournament rules and hence performed badly.