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T20 cricket, it could be said, is modern day cricket's great savior. It has breathed a new sigh of relief and newfound meaning to a sport that insofar, until 2005 or thereabouts, had just two faces - Test and One-Day. But a lot about the modern conception of the sport is represented by and through T20 cricket's success. And when it comes to the T20 leagues, then they have become the common dossiers of cricket in today's fast paced age.
Several talents, exceptional that they may be not necessarily find the chance of national representation and in such a case, playing T20 leagues around the world offers more than consolation, a new wave to an individual's career. A brand new opportunity to excel on one's cricketing resume! But a lot of that has today become possible thanks to the top T20 leagues in the world.
List of top T20 leagues in the world:
Indian Premier League
Who would have thought that what began as a simple franchise league based contest in 2008 would go on to become a cult in modern-day cricket? In 2008, with stars like Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Sachin Tendulkar, Chris Gayle, among others, the IPL took off only to become a sublime hit in the world of T20 leagues. It is the prima donna in the escatic world of franchise-based competitons with players like Kohli, Dhoni among others having become cult heroes in geographies farflung beyond India's territories.
With each passing season, the IPL continues to grow in size, stature, success and even revenue. It is the standard benchmark of measuring a talent's standing in the sport today and a lot of its teams, in particular CSK, RCB and MI franchises have become household names around the world.
Big Bash League
The famed Big Bash League, also popularly known as the BBL, is Australia's primary and premium T20 franchise based competiton.
Widely hailed among the top T20 leagues in the world, the Big Bash League has given men's and women's cricket a great platform to further their T20 expertise with teams from Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart, Perth, among others as the key outfits in the competition.
The T20 league began in the year 2011 and has since then produced gargantuan cricketing talents on the global landscape such as Chris Lynn, Mitch Owen, Matt Short, Will Sutherland, Josh Inglis, among several others.
Caribbean Premier League
For a country that does love and thrive in the game's shortest format, how could the West Indies region not have a T20 based competition of its own? Beginning in the year 2013, the Caribbean Premier League is today the most important and widely recognised platform for giving cricketing talent a chance to shine beyond the annals of the national cricket in the West Indies. With a flurry of six hitters and globespanning pace and spin talents, the CPL, as it is called, is home to some of the most noted and respected T20 stars in the world, the West Indies being the massive producer of such names. These include - Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Evin Lewis, Andre Russell, the Bravo brothers, Sunil Narine, and as seen in the past - Rovman Powell, Shai Hope and Roston Chase, among others. CPL is without much doubt among the top T20 leagues in the world and is continuing to shine each season.
SA20
Established in the year 2022 by Africa Cricket Development Ltd. along with the likes of Cricket South Africa and SuperSport as major shareholders, cricket in the T20 format in South Africa pretty much means SA20.
A premier T20 frachise-based competition that features 6 teams, SA T20 is home to some of the most noticeable and established South African cricketers such as Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen among others and today attracts widescale participation from cricketing talents around the world. It's best days lie ahead in the future.
Pakistan Super League
With its first season back in the year 2016 and having had a season regularly since that period of time, the famed PSL, as it is called is a product of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and is very much among the top T20 leagues in the world.
The PSL comprises 6 city-based franchies and offers cricketing entertainment each year that gives rising and established Pakistan players such as Shaheen Afridi, Mohd. Rizwan, Babar Azam, among others a great chance to show their talent among several English, West Indies, South African and other players from the wide-reaching cricketing sphere.
Major League Cricket
The MLC, as it is called, is quite emphatically the face of T20 cricket in the United States of America, which today is not just cricket's new window to a worldwide expansion but another outlet toward making the sport a lucrative option for cricketers from around the world. Sanctioned by the USA Cricket and organised by American cricket enterprises, the MLC has 6 teams, and was first organised in the year 2023, and witnesses massive participation from the likes of Caribbean, South African, New Zealand cricketers alongside cricketers based in North America, who could be form varying ethnicities.
The MLC is the top tier of T20 franchise based cricket in USA and the MiLC, which is another competition, is a stepping stone toward reaching this premier or elite T20 league.
FAQs
When did the Indian Premier League begin?
It began way back in 2008 as its first season, in what was a time of rising culture of T20 cricket.
Which is West Indies' most popular T20 league?
The West Indies still have the Caribbean Premier League, their go-to T20 carnival held each year.
