The inaugural Champions League Twenty20 tournament was set to take place in India from December 3, 2009 to December 10, 2008. Eight teams two each from BCCI, CA and CSA, the founding board members as well as Middlesex and Pakistan’s Sialkot Stallions were to battle it in Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.
However, post Mumbai Terror attack, the Governing Council of Champions League 2020, chose to cancel it.
Now the tournament is all set and the first edition of the Champions League will have 12 teams from seven test playing nations. The 16-day league will have 23 matches and this time the domestic Twenty20 winners and finalists of West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand join the teams from the founding board member nations, India, Australia and South Africa.
The Delhi Daredevils, Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore are the three teams from India.
Other teams are the 2009 domestic finalists and winners from Australia namely Victoria and New South Wales, Cape Cobras and Eagles from South Africa, Otago from New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago from West Indies and Wayamba from Sri Lanka. As England’s domestic 2009, Twenty20 is being played, the finalists will be known only at the end of August.
The finalists from Pakistan domestic Twenty20 tournament are unlikely to participate unless there is a dramatic change in the political scenario between India and Pakistan.
The tournament is to be played in three venues, Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad. This means that the three Indian Premier League (IPL) teams Delhi Daredevils, Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore will enjoy home support during the event.
ESPN Star Sports (ESS) is the global television production partner. The sports broadcaster has reportedly paid $ 975 million for exclusive rights for 10 years and has reportedly signed up the Indian telecom giant Airtel as title sponsor for the next 5 years. The tournament will be henceforth referred to as Airtel Champions League Twenty20.
ESS will telecast all the matches in High Definition Format and possibly the highest number of cameras at the venue. ESPN Star Sports is planning to install as many as 34 cameras at each venue. The tournament organizers have also roped in the Oscar winning composer, AR Rahman to compose the anthem or the theme song.
You can find the groups and complete Champions League Twenty20 schedule here.
No comments:
Post a Comment