Champions League T20 2014: Daniel Vettori to miss tournament due to personal reasons

Daniel Vettori

New Zealand HRV T20 champions Northern Knights’ CLT20 dreams suffered a severe blow after their premier left-arm spinner and former Blackcaps captain Daniel Vettori decided to withdraw from the event citing “personal reasons”.

The 35-year-old’s decision is another major blow for the team after Corey Anderson opted to play for his IPL franchise Mumbai Indians over his local side.

"I really love playing for ND (Northern Districts) and to do so on a world stage would have been a real highlight," Vettori was quoted saying on missing out on the T20 tournament that invites the best teams from around the world to compete for glory. He was last seen playing for Jamaica Tallawahs in the Carribean Premier League.

Since the 15-member squads have been finalised for all the participants, the Kiwi side is now in a situation to seek clearance from the governing body to name a replacement. Speaking on the situation, the team’s chief executive Peter Roach informed: "There's no guarantee, but we think Dan's exceptional circumstances should be viewed favourably."

The Knights will have to go through a tough qualifying stage to make it the tournament proper and will be up against Sri Lanka’s Southern Express to kick off the qualifiers on September 13 at Raipur.