It wasn't only the subcontinent batsmen who struggled against short balls © AFP

It was survival instinct that drove players to look for cutting-edge tactics at the recently concluded Champions League Twenty20. The second tournament has been nothing short of a discovery : unsettling yet determined shots, novel field positions and a whole new bag of tricks from the bowlers to hold them in good stead. That's what made the CLT20 a good show. Despite some ordinary cricket, there were also some splashes of brilliance. Here are my observations from the tournament.

Starting with the fine-leg fielder inside the circle
Most teams had the fine-leg fielder inside the ring and pushed the square-leg fielder back to the boundary right from the beginning. This is not how teams have traditionally begun one-day innings, preferring instead to have the fielder beside the square-leg umpire save singles and the fine leg, though slightly squarer, back on the boundary.

There are three reasons to have the square-leg fielder back. First, the balls that end up in the fine-leg region are the ones drifting down leg side but bowlers, especially in Twenty20 cricket, back themselves not to err in line. Second, the batsmen aren't afraid to hit over the top and taking the aerial route over the square-leg fielder is safer than walking across the stumps to play fine or to scoop the ball like Dilshan and McCullum. Third, bowlers don’t mind conceding singles because a single is as good as a dot ball in Twenty20 cricket.

Bowling short
There was plenty of the short-pitched stuff throughout the innings. Yes, the extra bounce on South African pitches may have encouraged the bowlers to bang it in short but that's not the only reason. Most batsmen, regardless of nationality, were in obvious discomfort against chin music. While the Central Stags from New Zealand used it to good effect against the Chennai Super Kings, Dwane Bravo bowled at least a foot shorter against South Australia. The more you see matches in these conditions, the clearer it becomes that it’s not only the batsmen from the subcontinent who aren’t great players of short-pitched stuff and that they have company. No bowler can get away with bowling just one-dimensional short-pitched stuff, though, but there is no harm in making the batsman smell leather every now and then.

Playing straight
The teams from South Africa and Australia have taught a lesson in batting to the rest of the sides only if they choose to notice. While the players from these countries are good off the back foot and play horizontal bat shots, they have shown the value of hitting straight down the ground with a vertical bat, as opposed to their counterparts from the subcontinent who are guilty of looking to score only square of the wicket. Yes, there’s bounce to deal with but a half volley is a half volley on all surfaces and should be hit straight. Also, since teams keep the mid-off and mid-on fielder really wide on bouncy surfaces, there’s a huge gap in the front to get maximum value for shots. Indian teams are yet to utilise this to its full potential.

Slower ones

The slower ball is an important delivery in a fast bowler’s armoury but just taking the pace off is not enough, especially on bouncy South African tracks. One could get away with rolling the fingers across the ball in the subcontinent because the lack of pace and bounce makes it even slower after pitching. Ergo you could get away with it but that isn’t the case on bouncy surfaces. A poorly executed slower ones sits up to get hit and we have seen many disappearing into the stands in this tournament.

It was in fact the lesser-known, non-IPL teams that defied odds, and held their ground – Warriors, Redbacks, Bushrangers, et al told their counterparts that first-rate athleticism and fielding could make up for the lack of stars.

Mahela Jayawardene and Wayamba have struggled in the Champions League © Associated Press

Cricketers from Maharashtra must be wondering what Wayamba from Sri Lanka did to be playing in the Champions League in South Africa. Don’t tell them that Wayamba won their domestic championship because so did Maharashtra. You may want to remind them of the high standards of competition and their obvious lack of quality, but isn’t Wayamba looking like a fish out of water too? So even that argument falls flat on its face.

Apparently, T20 cricket bridges the gap between the good and the bad teams, thanks to its unpredictable nature and small canvas, but even then, Wayamba is looking woefully out of its depth. Obviously, Wayamba is not to be blamed, but the flawed system. Wayamba haven’t gatecrashed the event; they deserved to be there after winning their domestic tourney.

Champions League, supposedly, is a clash between the domestic T20 champions from different nations -- India being the only exception by choosing to put forward the IPL champions. To consider the IPL a domestic tournament of the standard of domestic cricket in the West Indies and Sri Lanka is grossly unrealistic. All domestic tournaments in the world have a fair representation of their states, districts or counties and that’s what makes it the level playing field for everyone involved. In the IPL we have only eight teams representing the country where 27 teams play at the first-class level. And even those eight teams have four overseas players in the playing XI further curtailing the role of Indian domestic players.

Despite having such disparity, you may have to live with it if there wasn’t another domestic T20 tournament taking place in India. But there is one, prestigious at that – the All-India domestic T20 tournament of which Maharashtra is the proud champion. And hence they have a valid reason to be gutted for not being there in South Africa right now.

The flip side to the story makes one wonder if Maharashtra, though T20 champions, yet lacklustre, and relegated to the plate division, can actually prove to be head turners in the Champion’s League? Let me share a small detail to explain how it all panned out. The knock-outs of the domestic T20 tournament overlapped with the IPL, and hence the qualifying state teams released all their key players to play in the IPL. Subsequently, the standard of the domestic tourney dropped massively, which is how Maharashtra, though average, became the champions.

Undoubtedly, if full strength state teams compete at the national level, our winners would not only be worthy of a place in the Champions League but also make waves. Imagine if Delhi wins the tournament? You’ll have Gambhir, Sehwag, Nehra, Ishant, Kohli, Dhawan etc playing. Doesn’t that prospect excite you?

But there might be a small catch in this arrangement too, and i.e. some players might have to choose between state and club. If both KKR and Delhi qualified, Ishant will have to choose the team he would represent at the World stage. But that’s only fair because most players are already facing that tough question. Kallis and Cameron White chose to stay with RCB, Nannes had opted for DD over Victoria etc. So why lose sleep if Bhajji or Ishant have to make that choice?

An easier alternative would be to scrap the national tournament because in any case it isn’t serving any purpose. In fact, to make an even playing ground for everyone involved in the Champions League, there should be leagues like the IPL in all participating countries with similar rules. Because right now it isn’t proving to be the pinnacle of domestic T20 tournaments, as a lot of people are making it out to be.

Jacques Kallis is one of the many stars turning out for Bangalore Royal Challengers © Associated Press

A quick look at the playing XIs of quite a few of the non-IPL teams in the Champions League is enough to tell the story in no uncertain terms - they are the poorer cousins of their IPL counterparts. Let’s say they are as good as a Bengal or a Baroda, but are as run down as any state team would be, when playing an international outfit. The IPL teams swanking big names and decades of experience are of course better bets.

Logically then, the local teams sans star power should not be a patch on the three Indian teams. Yet not only have they put up a good fight, but have outperformed the IPL teams - none of the Indian teams qualified for the knock-outs in the first edition of the tournament. So what is it that is allowing the lesser teams to hold sway? More importantly, a question begs to be asked — how good are our IPL teams after all?

In my humble opinion, it isn’t the standard but the sheer competitiveness that seals the deal in favour of the IPL. Most teams in the IPL are equally balanced or imbalanced and share similar strengths and handicaps. Teams have the luxury of being able to start slowly, since the league is a lengthy event. So it’s okay to start working as a unit a couple of weeks into the tournament.

But there are no such luxuries in the Champions League. It’s mandatory to hit the ground running or else you will be forced to play catch up. Since the IPL teams don’t play together year round, they find it tough to work as a team right from the beginning. Finding out out what makes certain players tick and how they will perform in certain situations consumes vital time. Of course, the local teams enjoy an edge on this account as the line-up works as a cohesive unit round the year.

Unfortunately, IPL teams have mostly banked on reputations and not on current form to bail them out of tough situations, while the other first-class teams have had in-form players to assume the responsibility.

Another major factor that has had a huge impact on the overall standing of the non-IPL teams is knowledge of the opposition. Since the IPL is a hugely watched worldwide spectacle, its players have been exposed to analysis. The other participating teams escape such scrutiny. For example T&T took everyone by surprise with a brand of West Indian cricket which was almost forgotten or absolutely new to others.

While non-IPL teams can plan and prepare in advance and hence know what to expect from the IPL teams, our teams need to be more fluid in their approach. The role of a coach becomes remarkably insignificant because it’s the captain who must think on his feet, analyse the opposition on the ground itself and react appropriately. He must back his instincts a great deal too.

The only thing that might bring parity in this year’s edition is its timing. Most teams are coming out of an off-season and might be equally rusty as our IPL teams. In spite of the IPL teams claiming to have more match-winners than the rest, it’s imperative to play as a single unit. The seasoned players are expected to adapt to tough South African conditions more easily than most first-class cricketers from around the world, but it is always a team that wins a match.

Aakash's twitter feed is here http://twitter.com/cricketaakash