Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
The defunct Champions League (CL) T20 is highly likely to make a comeback after 12 years. The England Cricket Board (ECB), along with the Board of Control for Cricket In India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council (ICC), is holding discussions to relaunch the T20 tournament with the new name World Club Championship next year. If the tournament returns after 12 years, several top clubs from different leagues will be seen locking horns against one another in the competition. In the last few years, the emergence of T20 leagues has seen several players serving multiple franchises in different competitions.
If the World Club Championship starts next year, players will face the conundrum to serve which team if their sides from different leagues make it to the marquee competition. In the CL T20, it was the players’ choice to which team he would give priority to. The same is expected to be replicated next year but if any club brings a clause that their players will have to record their availability in the World Club Championship as well along with the main league, the players might be bound to represent that team.
CL T20’s history
CL T20 was played from 2009 to 2014 and during this period, six editions were played. The maiden installment of the league was won by New South Wales Blues under Simon Katich’s captaincy while Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) emerged as the most-successful sides with two titles each.
CSK won 2010 and 2014 seasons while MI also lifted the coveted trophy twice, in 2011 and 2013 seasons. In July 2015, the three founding cricket boards BCCI, Cricket Australia (CA), and Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced that the 2014 season was the last of CL T20 as the tournament failed to attract viewers.
