The long-lost Champions League T20 (CLT20) has started to do rounds as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket Australia (CA) and England Cricket Board (ECB) discuss the solutions to revive the tournament. As per the reports, the cricket board of Australia and England are already in talks and there are plans to include the BCCI secretary Jay Shah as well.
The Champions League T20 (CLT20) began back in 2009 and ran for six seasons before the tournament was scrapped out of the scheme of things. The tournament featured the top T20 sides from all across the world, including Indian Premier League (IPL) and Big Bash League (BBL).
However, the officials had to drop their plans to extend the tournament due to poor viewership and unstable sponsorship. The last time CLT20 was held was in 2014 when MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the final of the event.
Meanwhile, the makers of the tournament now reckon the time has come to revive the tournament. Cricket Victoria CEO Nick Cummins said the stakeholders are actively in conversation to resurrect the tournament, which was last held in 2014. Cummins believes the Champions League T20 (CLT20) was ahead of its time a decade ago.
“I think the Champions League was ahead of its time. The T20 landscape wasn’t mature enough at that point. I think it is now,” Cummins said on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai on Tuesday. “I know that there’s active conversations between Cricket Australia, the ECB, and the BCCI about the Champions League.
He added that the key issue for them to host the Champions League T20 is to find a specific window for all the teams amidst the packed international schedule.
A Special Window for Champions League T20
It’s worth noting that to host the tournament featuring players from all around the world, it needs to have a dedicated window approved by the ICC.
“It’s just trying to find a window as to when you actually play that because you’ve also got all the ICC tournaments as well. It may be that the first iteration of the Champions League will be of the women… [it may involve cricketers playing in] the WPL, the Hundred and the WBBL.”
As of now, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) stand as the two most successful sides of the T20 tournament with two titles each. While MI won their titles in 2011 and 2013, Chennai Super Kings emerged triumphant in 2010 and 2014.
Cummins opened that he is in talks with Cricket Australia (CA) CEO Nick Hockley and they will soon include BCCI secretary Jay Shah in the conversation to take the discussions forward.
“I’m constantly talking to Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia CEO, for a Champions League, because I think it’s pretty important to bring that back,” Cummins said. “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.”