IPL is too good to be ignored for these cricketers who dumped thier home clubs for CLT20

New Delhi: The star studded Champions League T20 (CLT20) is less than a month away and all the 12 teams participating have officially announced their 15-man squad for the tournament beginning on September 13th and ending on October 4th.The likes of Kieron Pollard, David Miller and Jacques Kallis, who had an option of choosing between their IPL team and their home team, have opted to play for their IPL franchise, thereby continuing the trend of previous seasons.Eight players scheduled to take part in the competition were in high demand after being named in more than one squad, after their respective Twenty20 clubs from around the world qualified for the tournament.CLT20 regulations state that when a player elects to play for their 'away' team, that team must pay the 'home' team $150,000 compensation per player. A 'home' team is classified as a team from the country a player is eligible to represent in international cricket.The four IPL franchisees in CLT20 are Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians. Mumbai Indians meanwhile, will have to get past the qualifying stage of the tournament from 13th. The main stage will commence on 17th September with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) taking on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.Let's take a look on 8 cricketers who opted for their IPL teams:1) Jacques KallisThe IPL 2014 champions Kolkata Knight Riders would be feeling relieved after their main and experienced strike batsman Jacques Kallis decided to opt for KKR instead of South African champions Cape Cobras.He is the mainstay of his IPL franchisee. Beside expirience he is an extraordinary cricket equiped with skills to change the complexion of the game both with bat and as well as with ball. In 98 IPL matches, he has scored 2427 runs at an average of 28.55 with strike rate of 109.In 2014 edition, he played 8 matches and scored 151 runs and took 4 wickets. A lot will be depending upon him to win KKR's maiden CLT20 title. 2) Corey AndersonAt INR 4.5 crores, young Corey Anderson was the Mumbai Indians' second-costliest buy at the 2014 IPL Player Auction. He left his home franchisee Northern Districts of New Zealand to play for Mumbai and defend their CLT20 title.This hard-hitting left-hander could well be worth every penny spent on him given his propensity to clear the ropes at regular intervals. It was this flamboyant batting style that saw him register the fastest ODI ton (36 balls) against the West Indies to ring in 2014.Not to forget his match winning innings of 95 runs in 44 deliveries against Rajasthan Royals to qualify for the IPL playoffs. Mumbai achieved the target of 190 in just 14.4 overs.3) George BaileyKings XI Punjab skipper George Bailey turned out to be the best captain of IPL 2014 in his debut for the IPL franchisee. He led his team to the finals for the first time in IPL history but unfortunately they lost to KKR.He was eligible to play for Hobart Hurricanes but has been picked up by KXIP. Though he may not have played any innings like of Glenn Maxwell or Miller but his captaincy skills have certainly impressed Preity Zinta and co. He scored 257 runs in 17 matches at an average of 135 and strike rate 28.55.Although Bailey had been with the Chennai Super Kings since IPL 2009, he's only had a handful of IPL outings. Bailey was added to the KXIP lineup at the IPL 2014 Auction.4) David MillerAnother power hitter from Kings XI Punjab, David Miller has been roped in by the IPL franchisee for the upcoming 2014 Champions League Twenty20. Miller was also named in the South African side Dolphins but KXIP exercised their first right to keep the player.KXIP will have to pay USD 150,000 to Dolphins and the Punjab side says it is ready to spend the hefty amount to avail the services of Miller.Although Dolphins are also keen to retain him as well but the tournament rules provide for the veto rights to the IPL teams in case of a player being eligible for two teams.The most prolific protea batsman had a wonderful IPL season with 446 runs in 16 matches at an average of 44.60 and strike rate of 149.5) Lasith MalingaLasith Malinga has chosen Mumbai Indians over his Sri Lankan side, Southern Express in the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament.Nishantha Ranatunga, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Secretary said that the pacer had a talk with the officials and had conveyed his wish to play for the Indian team. Malinga captained the Southern Express to win the local Super 4s T20 competition.The toe-crusher bowler missed some matches of IPL and could not contribute to the team in the playoffs but this time they believe that he will stay till the end and defent the title for Mumbai. However still in 10 matches, he picked up 16 wickets at a reasonable economy rate of 6.45.6) Kieron PollardAnother Mumbai Indians' all-rounder Kieron Pollard opted for his IPL franchisee instead of Caribbean Premier League 2014 winner Barbados Tridents. He captained his home club to the victory and also contributed 55 runs in the final. The Caribbean franchisee would certainly be missing him who now will play and defend the CLT20 title for Mumbai.He had a decent IPL season this year, with 273 runs in 15 matches. However in CLT20, the franchisee would hope that he would not get involved in any spat with any player like as he did with Mitchell Starc of Royal Challengers Bangalore.7) Dwayne SmithFormerly with Mumbai Indians and now with Chennai Super Kings, another Caribbean Dwayne Smith has decided not to play for his CPL 2014 champions Barbados Tridents. Instead he will play for CSK and will be looking forward to bring the title back to his side.A handy T20 cricketer, Dwayne Smith was likened to the great West Indies batting legend Sir Viv Richards when he arrived on the cricketing scene. His high point in T20 cricket came in the 2009 Twenty20 Cup final in England where his innings of 59 off just 26 deliveries helped Sussex win the championship and book a place for CLT20 2009.He had wonderful season of IPL earlier this year, where he scored 566 runs in 16 matches with a strike rate of 136. Being a batting all-rounder, Smith also picked up four wickets in the tournament.8) Pattrick CumminsThe 21 year old Australian pacer Pat Cummins might have played just one IPL game for KKR but he has handful of CLT20 experience for Sydney Sixers who won the title in 2010. But later he started playing for Perth Scorchers and this year he chose to play for his IPL franchisee Kolkata Knight Riders instead of his home club. In just one ipl match, he got only 1 wicket of CSK's Dwayne Smith and went on to bowl his first over as a wicket maiden in IPL debut.Cummins has been touted as a future spearhead of the Australian bowling attack after a blistering debut in South Africa where he took seven wickets and scored the winning runs to take Australia to a much needed Test victory. His best T20 figures are 4/16 at an average economy rate of 7.53 in 33 matches with 45 wickets. In 11 T20Is, he has 16 wickets at an economy of 7.32 with a total of 16 wickets and best figures of 3/15.