Different League

Last year’s 26/11 terror attacks ended all hopes of the much awaited inaugural Champions League T20 (CL T20) competition to be conducted in India. But, the tournament this year is anticipated to be a heady concoction of hyper cricket and instant fame. With many of the international players like DeVilliers, Pietersen and Collingwood out of action due to injuries , the CL T20 is bound to be an arena for youngsters to blossom into champion cricketers. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has thrown up surprises in the two years of its exhilarating existence. It facilitated the entry of greenhorns in teams that comprised primarily of the game’s giants and in return the old hands have got an opportunity to learn a format distant from their beginnings in the game. This cosmopolitan version of the IPL is sure to be a revelation of potential.

Although, Champions League has been accused of being another sinister, money-making plot of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), it nevertheless attracts a lot of takers for its gala cricket events and competitions. Many of the players have protested strongly at the prospect of being denied permission to play in this well paying Indian T20 format. And why shouldn’t they?

This year includes the top T-20 teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, England and Sri Lanka. Many of the visiting international players look familiar to the crowds from their IPL stint earlier in the year, but they have switched loyalties to their respective state sides.

The opening ceremony of the tournament on October 9 is expected to be an over the top affair with music and gizmos that would convert the austere looking Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore into a theatre of splendour. The sensational A.R Rehman has composed the theme song for the League, whose performance in the opening ceremony will be embellished with dancers and acrobats.

The Indian diaspora the world over has helped create a wonderful aura around the IPL which will certainly rub off on the Champions League. But the extent to which Lalith Modi Chairman and Commissioner of IPL, can achieve his dream of developing club loyalties in cricket with constantly switching players from IPL teams to their state sides is yet to be seen.

If the Champions League is as explosive and well received as the IPL, it will in all likelihood transform into a tournament bigger than the T-20 World Cup. IPL and the Champions League draw bigger audiences and revenue worldwide than any other cricket tournament in history.

Both these tournaments will emancipate local cricket in all participating countries through their inclusive and youthful formats. They have made the game at the grass roots level a lot more competitive.

The winner of this $2.5 million tournament will be at the centre of envy and adulation for obvious reasons.

The Champions League should be a spectacle to behold.

In the succeeding post I will be commenting on the various matches in the Champions League.