Since the advent of the T20 format, cricket has become a fast-paced game and the audience loves to see things unfold quicker than they used to. A lot of franchise cricket is popular nowadays with a lot of countries having their own T20 leagues. When the T20 leagues started to happen, another T20 league was started called Champions League T20 cricket (CLT20).
In the CLT20, the top teams from each country’s T20 league participate and fight for the trophy to find the best of the lot. But not having enough audience interest, poor viewing figures, and a lack of stable sponsorships, the tournament got canceled. The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India), CA (Cricket Australia), and CSA (Cricket South Africa), who jointly owned the CLT20 tournament announced that decision in July 2015. But now, after ten years, the talks are getting louder to get the CLT20 tournament back. The first news regarding the CLT20 revival came from Cricket Victoria’s CEO, Nick Cummins. We will talk about all the things regarding this in detail in this article. So don’t go anywhere.
Active conversation between BCCI, CA, and ECB for the revival of CLT20
The last edition of CLT20 happened in 2014. But now after ten years, there has been an active conversation between the BCCI, CA, and ECB (England Cricket Board) for the revival of the tournament. Cricket Victoria CEO, Nick Cummins said finding a window in this jampacked calendar year is the biggest challenge for the tournament.
Talking about the calling off of the tournament ten years ago, Nick said the T20 landscape wasn’t mature enough at that point. He thinks that the Champions League T20 cricket tournament was ahead of its time and now is the right time.
Also, Cricket Victoria CEO said the challenge would be to find a perfect window, considering the FTP of all the teams and the ICC (International Cricket Council) tournaments.
Will there be a CLT20 tournament for women?
Not just for men, there might be a CLT20 tournament for women as well. Nick Cummins talks about the iteration of Champions League T20 cricket for women that may include players from WPL (Women’s Premier League), WBBL (Women’s Big Bash League), and The Hundred (Women’s).
Because there aren’t big T20 leagues for women and lack of infrastructure for women’s cricket other than in these three countries, only players from the above-mentioned leagues are considered. But it will be a great platform for women’s cricket as well if it happens.
Cummins in talks with Cricket Australia’s CEO
Cricket Victoria CEO, Nick Cummins said he is in talks with Cricket Australia’s CEO, Nick Hockley for the CLT20. Also, he said the BCCI secretary, Jay Shah might be a person who can provide more information on this.
“There are talks about it. It’s probably a question to ask Jay Shah. But certainly, from an Australian cricket perspective, we are very open to the idea of the Champions League. It’s just about finding a window in the FTP, but I think that’s the next step in the evolution of cricket.” – Nick Cummins said.
Are we going to the Football way?
Nick Cummins also talks about the need for a balance between international and club-based competition in cricket. Compared with Football, he talks about what the Champions League does for Football. In Football, the World Cup (WC) is a very big thing but along with that, the Champions League is there too.
“Football had a really big club vs country tension in the 90s. And they found a way for international football to exist side by side with leagues. Cricket is going through it at the moment. Every country has the right to have a T20 league, whether it is Nepal or Ireland. We shouldn’t place controls on how members want to play cricket.” – Cummins throws light on club-based competition vs internationals.
Finding the best team with the best players playing in it
Cummins thinks that we still haven’t figured out which league is the best, whether it is IPL, BBL, or PSL. Or maybe any other league. The only thing to find out is to have a game between the two teams from different leagues. Like Melbourne Stars playing against Karachi Kings or Mumbai Indians.
He also thinks that no T20 competition in the world has all the best players playing in it. CLT20 might provide that opportunity. He gives an example of no Indian players playing in other T20 leagues and no presence of Pakistani players playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
So this is all about what Cricket Victoria CEO, Nick Cummins said on the revival of CLT20. The fans would love to have a tournament like Champions League T20 cricket with a lot of fans loved watching the shortest format. At the same time, some people might argue there are already so many T20 leagues/T10 leagues around the world. And another one might overlook other formats like Test Cricket and ODIs. But all we all know, cricket runs according to the viewership of the fans. Let’s see how things unfold. Thank you for reading. Keep following us for the latest updates.
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FAQs:-
1. In which year the first season of CLT20 happened?
The first season of the tournament happened in 2009 in India. A total of 6 seasons happened till 2014 (4 in India and 2 in South Africa).
2. Who won the first season of Champions League T20?
New South Wales Blues won the first season by beating Trinidad and Tobago in the final by 41 runs.
3. Who won the last season of CLT20 in 2014?
Chennai Super Kings won the title in 2014 by beating Kolkata Knight Riders in the final by 8 wickets.
4. Who won the most Champions League T20 titles till now?
Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, both have two titles each in the tournament.
5. Who has the most runs and wickets in the CLT20 tournament in 6 seasons?
Suresh Raina, with 973 runs, and Lasith Malinga, with 69 wickets are the two most successful players in the tournament.
