Champions League: Sehwag to lead Daredevils

Recuperating from a shoulder surgery that ruled him out of the ongoing tri-series in Sri Lanka and the subsequent Champions Trophy, Virender Sehwag will lead the Delhi Daredevils in next month's Champions League, the organisers of the Twenty20 event announced on Tuesday.

Sehwag had undergone the surgery in England during the Twenty20 World Cup and remains out of action since then.

The hard-hitting opener has not resumed batting practice yet, but was named captain of the 15-member Daredevils team for the October 8-23 event to be played in Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

Announcing the final 15-player squads of the 12 participating teams, Champions League chairman Lalit Modi said the tournament would be a conglomeration of international stars.

"Never before has a domestic cricket tournament featured as many cricket superstars as the inaugural Champions League Twenty20," Modi said.

"As expected, almost all eligible international stars have confirmed their attendance at domestic cricket's showpiece event," he added.

Refusing to put his finger on any team that seems favourite to win the title, Modi said, "Picking a winner of the tournament is impossible. While some of the squads consist entirely of international players, there is enough high-class talent in all teams to ensure that no team enters the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 as overwhelming favourites."

Champions League squads:

NSW Blues: Aaron Bird, David Warner, Dominic Thornely, Steven Smith, Daniel Smith, Ben Rohrer, Steve O'Keefe, Brett Lee, Simon Katich, Doug Bollinger, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Nathan Hauritz, Moises Henriques and Philip Hughes.

Otago Volts: Craig Cumming (C), Nick Baird, Neil Wagner, Greg Todd, Hamish Rutherford, Aaron Redmond, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Warren McSkimming, James McMillan, Nathan McCullum, Neil Broom, Ian Butler, Derek de Boorder, Mathew Harvie and Brendon McCullum.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Anil Kumble (C), Balachandra Akhil, Roelof van der Merwe, Robin Uthappa, Ross Taylor, Dale Steyn, Jesse Ryder, Manish Pandey, Praveen Kumar, Virat Kohli, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid, Mark Boucher and Vinay Kumar.

Somerset Sabres: Omari Banks, Charl Willoughby, Max Waller, Mark Turner, Marcus Trescothick, Peter Trego, Alfonso Thomas, Arul Suppiah, Ben Phillips, Zander de Bruyn, Jos Buttler, Wes Durston, James Hildreth, Craig Kieswetter and Justin Langer.

Sussex Sharks: William Beer, Yasir Arafat, Michael Yardy, Luke Wright, Dwayne Smith, Christopher Nash, Robin Martin-Jenkins, James Kirtley, Chad Keegan, Ben Brown, Piyush Chawla, Joe Gatting, Rory Hamilton-Brown and Andrew Hodd.

Trinidad & Tobago: Samuel Badree, Navin Stewart, Lendl Simmons, Ravi Rampaul, Denesh Ramdin, Kieron Pollard, William Perkins, Sunil Narine, Dave Mohammed, Adrian Barath, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Rayad Emrit, Daren Ganga and Sherwin Ganga.

Wayamba Elevens: Sameera de Soysa, Chanaka Welagedara, Mahela Udawatte, Isuru Udana, Tissara Perera, Jehan Mubarak, Ajantha Mendis, Farveez Maharoof, Michael Vandort, Rangana Herath, Mahela Jayawardene, Shalika Karunanayake and Jeevantha Kulatunga.

Victoria Bushrangers: Aiden Blizzard, Damien Wright, Cameron White, Matthew Wade, Peter Siddle, Robert Quiney, Clinton McKay, Bryce McGain, Andrew McDonald, Aaron Finch, Shane Harwood, John Hastings, Brad Hodge, Jon Holland and David Hussey.