As per various reports, the Indian, English, and the Australian cricket boards are keen on bringing back the Champions League T20 tournament. The same was confirmed by Cricket Victoria CEO Nick Cummins. But due to a packed calendar, it remains a mystery as to when the tournament could be played.
“I’m constantly talking to Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia CEO, for a Champions League, because I think it’s pretty important to bring that back. We still haven’t 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.
CL T20 in the Pipeline
“I think the (earlier edition) Champions League was ahead of its time. The T20 landscape wasn’t matured enough at that point. I think it is now. I know that there’s 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. It’s just trying to find a window as to when you actually play that, because you’ve also got all the ICC tournaments as well.
“It may be that the first iteration of the Champions League will be of the women. So, (it may involve cricketers playing in the) the WPL, the Hundred and the WBBL,” Cummins said on Tuesday.
Virat Kohli/Rohit Sharma in Action?
If the tournament is eventually revived, that could mean the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma could be playing against the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Babar Azam, since that would include teams for IPL and PSL, as well. Meanwhile, it’s still not clear as to what will be the qualification standard for the tournament.