The South African influence will be of great importance to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) campaign, RCB captain Anil Kumble said on Tuesday. Two of South Africa's top players - world number one Test bowler Dale Steyn and world number one Test all-rounder Jacques Kallis - will be turning out for RCB, who also have a South African coach in former national coach Ray Jennings.

"Jacques and Dale are both world class players, and they know the local conditions very well," said Kumble. "They can share their knowledge of the conditions and that should be of great benefit to the team as a whole. We are very happy to be playing this tournament in South Africa. We did well in the IPL in South Africa last year and that should boost our confidence. We are hoping to go one step further and win the cup this time."

The Mumbai Indians were the first team to arrive in South Africa for the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20), which gets under way on Friday, when the Indians take on the Bizhub Highveld Lions at the Wanderers. There is an aura around the Mumbai Indians, largely because they are captained by Sachin Tendulkar, who is arguably the most exciting and successful player of the modern era. There is a buzz of excitement wherever the Little Master goes, and South Africans are lucky to have seen him on numerous occasions.

Although he has retired from international Twenty20 (T20) cricket, Tendulkar - who owns just about every batting record going - was an integral part of the Mumbai Indians success in the IPL earlier this year, where they were runners-up to the Chennai Super Kings. He made 618 runs for his team, which earned him the record for the most runs scored in any edition of the IPL.

Think of the most consistent team in all three seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the name that comes to mind is the Chennai Super Kings. The men in yellow are the reigning champions of the IPL and have had more success than any other team in the tournament so far. After making it to the finals in the inaugural season and then reaching the semis in the second, the Chennai Super Kings were rewarded for their consistency by winning the gold in the third season. With an explosive batting line up, a lethal bowling attack, one of the best keepers in the world and some fantastic fielders, the Chennai Super Kings certainly look like the team to beat.

The Chennai Super Kings are probably one of the favourites to win the tournament and possess all the ingredients to win the cup. With a good strong mix of Indian and foreign players, the Super Kings have the combination to perhaps make an all star T20 team. The team from Chennai would look to use the pace of Bollinger on the speedy South African pitches and would rely on the quality of Murali. Their only real concern appears to be who to leave out of their playing eleven!

The Royal Challengers Bangalore make the trip to South Africa to participate in the second edition of the Champions League T20 thanks to their third place finish behind the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2010. Despite that though, they are bound to be one of the strong title contenders and would atleast be expected to make it to the semi-finals from Group B.

Along with the Wayamba Elevens and the Victoria Bushrangers, the Royal Challengers are one of only three surviving sides who took part in the second edition of the CLT20 and skipper Anil Kumble would be gunning to make the most of his second chance to take a crack at this coveted trophy. Consistency would be the key word for the Royal Challengers though, as they struggled for momentum in IPL 2010 despite having a very strong squad to boast about.

Is there any significant difference between the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Champions League T20 (CLT20)? Apart from the fact that they are both played according to the 20 overs format the difference is immense and that will become clear when the 2010 edition makes its eagerly awaited start at the Wanderers Stadium on Friday evening.

Sachin Tendulkar will open the batting for the Mumbai Indians against a Highveld Lions attack that will be spearheaded by the unheralded 23-year-old, Craig Alexander. It hardly needs to be repeated that Tendulkar is one of the all-time greats of the game. One of the hallmarks of great players is to make time almost stand still and over the last 12 months he has graced international cricket grounds with the verve, vitality and enthusiasm that he first displayed as a 16-year-old more than 20 years ago.

The Central Stags will not be taking any team lightly in the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20), which starts on Friday.

"Every team here is here on merit," said Stags captain Jamie How. "We see this tournament as a reward for winning our domestic Twenty20 (T20) tournament, and the other teams are here for the same reason. The fact that they're here means that they are very good teams, winning or finishing near the top of their individual competitions. Each of the teams has its strengths and weaknesses and we just have to be able to deal with those."

How said the CLT20 offered a great opportunity for domestic players to test their skills against some of the world's best cricketers.