 | |
| Countries | Worldwide |
|---|---|
| Format | Twenty20 |
| First edition | 2008 |
| Latest edition | 2014 |
| Tournament format | Round-robin and knockout |
| Number of teams | 12 (group stage) 10 (total) |
| Current trophy holder | Chennai Super Kings (2014) |
| Most successful | Chennai Super Kings Mumbai Indians (2 titles each) |
| Most runs | Suresh Raina (973) |
| Most wickets | Sunil Narine (39) |
The Champions League Twenty20, also known as the CLT20, was an annual international Twenty20 cricket competition played between qualifying domestic teams from some major cricketing nations. The competition was mainly launched with an ambitious view of replicating the UEFA Champions League in cricket.The competition was launched in 2008 with the first edition held in October 2009.[1] It was jointly owned by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa,[2] and was chaired by N. Srinivasan, who was also the chairman of the ICC. Sundar Raman was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the CLT20 as well as the IPL.[3][4] The last champions were the Chennai Super Kings, who won their second title in 2014.
The tournament was held between September and October for a period of two to three weeks in either India or South Africa. It had a total prize pool of US$6 million, with the winning team receiving $2.5 million, the highest for a club cricket tournament in history.[5] The format involved qualifying teams from the premier Twenty20 competitions of the eight Test-playing nations, favouring the teams from India, Australia and South Africa.[6]
Owing to poor viewing figures, a lack of audience interest and unstable sponsorship, the three founding cricket boards announced in July 2015 that the tournament would be cancelled, making the 2014 Champions League Twenty20 the last edition of the tournament.[7]
- ^ "Cricket Champions League unveiled". BBC Sport. 7 June 2008. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
- ^ "Middlesex complete Champions League line-up". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. 31 July 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
- ^ Tagore, Vijay (20 September 2013). "Tainted player allowed to play in CL T20". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "What a Night!". Cricket South Africa. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "T20 Champions League winners to get USD 2.5 million". The Indian Express. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
- ^ Viswanathan, Satish (26 June 2012). "CLT20's move to South Africa may help generate interest". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
- ^ "Champions League T20 discontinued". ESPN. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2015.