The inaugural edition of Champions League to be held in India from October 8-23 with record prize money of US $6 million at stake. A total number of 12 teams, with three from IPL scheduled to be part of the competition.
Rakesh Ahuja
JOHANNESBURG: If you thought you would take time off to recover from the pressure-packed action of DLF Indian Premier League, think again. For if you were on the edge of the seat with eight teams in competition, then brace yourself for this. Twelve of the best Twenty20 club sides from all over the world taking part in a fortnight's battle for the top prize, the Champions League Twenty20.
A total prize money of US $6 million will be at stake as the best sides in the world will vie for the crown and the right to be called the best Twenty20 side in the world. This would be the highest prize pool in cricket
At a press conference here on Sunday morning, hours before the grand final of DLF IPL, it was announced that 12 teams would be taking part in the in the competition. Announcing the launch of the competition, Chairman and Co-ordinator Lalit Modi informed that the 12 teams would be drawn from India, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England.
“The venues will be finalised shortly. It will be announced with a draw on June 23 in London. There will be an official draw of the teams that are participating. And the final venues will be announced then. The 12 teams will be represented by two teams from Australia, two from South Africa,two from England, one each from West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. And three from India,” said Modi.
We all know that Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers qualify for being the finalists in this edition of DLF-IPL, but a third has been accommodated by the governing council of the Champions League which includes the member boards of India, South Africa and Australia.
So which is the third team? “The way the three teams will qualify from India is two teams that have reached the final. And the team that topped the league, that is Delhi Daredevils. Going forward from year two of Champions League and year three of the IPL, the teams will be determined on the basis of the two finalists and the two other semifinal teams being involved in a play-off,” he added.
The Chairman said that with IPL moving out of India this year, it became important that a top Twenty20 tournament like Champions League was held in India to whet the appetite of the fans back home. The number of teams in Champions League has gone up from the eight scheduled to be part of the tournament in December 2008 before terrorist attacks on Mumbai forced the tournament to be postponed to October 2009.
This format is pretty simple and in some ways could be likened to the World T20 scheduled to be held next month in England. The 12 teams will be divided in four groups of three each. The top two teams from each group then qualify for a knockout stage, from where the top four enter the semifinal stage. A total of 23 games are scheduled to be held in the competition.
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