CLT20: India, Australia and England cricket boards in talks to revive tournament

Cricket boards of India Australia and England are in active discussions to revive the Champions League a clubbased international T20 competition The last edition of CLT20 was played 10 years agoThe last edition of CLT20 was played in 2014 in which Chennai Super Kings won the title after defeating Kolkata Knight Riders in Bengaluru The 2014 edition involved three teams from India two teams from Australia and South and one team each from Pakistan New Zealand and West IndiesAs many as six editions of the CLT20 were played between 200910 to 201415 with four of these being organised in India and two in South Africa The tournament was won twice each by Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians while Australias New South Wales and Sydney Sixes won it one time eachAlso Read IPL 2024 Hardik Pandya shares post on X backing Mumbai IndiansWhile the cricket calendar remains jampacked the biggest challenge would be to find a window for reviving such an event said Cricket Victoria CEO Nick Cummins who is aware of the conversations taking place between the three biggest boards in international cricketI think the earlier edition of Champions League was ahead of its time The T20 landscape wasnt matured enough at that point I think it is now Cummins told the media during the announcement of its partnership with KheloMore to launch the Melbourne Cricket Academy in IndiaI know that theres active conversations between Cricket Australia CA ECB England and Wales Cricket Board and the BCCI Board of Control for Cricket in India about reviving the Champions League he saidIts just trying to find a window as to when you actually play that because youve also got all the ICC tournaments as well It maybe the case that the first iteration of the Champions League will be of the women it may involve cricketers playing in the the WPL the Hundred and the WBBL he addedAustralian captain Pat Cummins said that he has been in talks with the boards CEO Nick Hockley for the revival of CLT20 but also said that BCCI secretary Jay Shah could also show some interest in itAlso Read T20 World Cup 2024 England star Ben Stokes pulls out saying its his sacrificeIm constantly talking to Nick Hockley Cricket Australia CEO for a Champions League because I think its pretty important to bring that back he saidThere are talks about it Its probably a question to ask Jay Shah BCCI secretary But certainly from an Australia cricket perspective we are very open to the idea of the Champions League Its just about finding a window in the FTP but I think thats the next step in the evolution of cricket he addedCummins drew the comparison between the clubbased international competitions like the Champions League in football saying that cricket is in a similar phase of finding the balance between international and clubbased competitionsWe still havent made out which league is the best IPL PSL or the Big Bash The only way we can show that is by having the Melbourne Stars play Karachi Kings or the Mumbai Indians Cummins saidOur great aspiration is to have the Indian players play in the Big Bash he said The Champions League is well overdue Look at what Champions League does for football the World Cup is fantastic and the Champions League is there too every time The idea of the Mumbai Indians playing the Melbourne Stars at the MCG would be just as exciting as India playing Australia at the MCG he addedWith PTI Inputs