Champions League T20 Set To Return After 10 Years

The Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) is set for a comeback, and its second incarnation will be bigger and better. The members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) recently had a meeting in Singapore on the sidelines of the ICC Annual conference, took a formal decision to restart the league where the winners of the different T20 leagues take part in a domestic T20 competition. If all goes well & according to the plan the CLT20 might see it's comeback as early as next year.

It is also reported that the international boards are expected to sit together & form a plan to work on the modalities of the league, particularly because many franchise owners have teams across multiple countries. Addressing the cross-team ownership structure will be a key challenge to this agenda. As has been the case, a Governing Council (GC) will be formed to run the league.

CLT20 Is Back!

Another major challenge for the regulators will be to determine the scale and scope of the league. When the Champions League T20 was discontinued in 2015, franchise-based competitions existed only in a handful of major Test-playing nations.

But in the decade or so, many other countries have started their own T20 franchise tournaments that including the names of associate nations, USA & UAE, Canada & Nepal, have also joined the party. As of today, 11 major leagues are being played in cricket, including the 'The Hundred' tournament in England.

Identifying a window in a cramped calendar will be another challenge for the organisers, who will also have to decide on the allocation of teams from the different leagues. As in the previous edition, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and its high-profile Indian Premier League (IPL) are expected to lead in the planned venture.

The England Cricket Board (ECB), which was not a part of the previous cycle, is expected to be an active member in the upcoming roster of CLT20. Some other big cricket boards like Cricket Australia (CA) & the South African Cricket Board (CSA) are also expected to be a part of this competition.

The CL T20, launched in 2009, had to be discontinued after the 2014 season when its founding three members - the BCCI, CA, and CSA - accepted a proposal from broadcaster Star Sports to shut down the league. Incurring heavy financial losses, Star offered a compensation package, which the three boards agreed to in 2015.