Brisbane Heat not expected to make Champions League finals: Report

The reigning Big Bash League champions Brisbane Heat will be far weaker than their side which won the Big Bash last season, during the Champions League Twenty20 tournament in India, according to a report.

According to News.com.au, the team is not expected to make the finals of the tournament as they will be without big names like all-rounder Shane Watson, who is playing for Indian Premier League side Rajasthan Royals, Mitchell Johnson (Mumbai Indians) and Thisara Perera (Sunrisers Hyderabad).

With Ryan Harris and Luke Pomersbach withdrawing due to injury and personal reasons respectively, the report said that the Heat have drawn arguably the weaker of the teams, although it added that it will not take a backward step under the guidance of new coach Stuart Law, who captained Queensland to win its first Sheffield Shield title.

The report mentioned that Law has a take-no-prisoners approach and will be implementing that during the tournament to get everything out of his players.

According to the report, Chris Lynn will be the 'player to watch' in the team as he is a big-hitting middle-order batsman who has experience of playing in the IPL as well as in the Sri Lankan T20 league.