Airtel Champions League T20 to start from 10th September in South Africa
The Champion’s League CLT20 will start from the 10th September with South Africa earning the right to host this years’ event. The Wanderers will host the final of the tournament that is still in its introductory phase while Durban and Centurion will host the semi-finals of the tournament. Soon after the resounding success of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) were quick to capitalize on this new found format of the game which has caught the attention of the cricketing world. It’s an international tournament between domestic clubs from seven test playing nations. The champions from each domestic tournament gain an automatic qualification to the CLT20.
However, last years’ CLT20 was a big flop largely due to an excessive amount of T20 cricket. South Africa will be hoping for better management and marketing for this event than how it was done last year. The event was once delayed and then cancelled on account of infamous http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-South-Wales-c823 Blues went ahead to win the first edition of the CLT20 in India. The competition gained so much media exposure because it offers a whopping USD 6 million in prize money where the winner takes away USD 2.5 million.
A total of 10 teams will take part in the 2010 edition which will be divided into two groups. Group A consists of Big Bash Champions http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Australia-c844’s Redbacks. Top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals of the CLT20.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757’s home grown heroes and world cricket’s biggest and brightest stars”.
Interestingly, there are players who are qualified to play for more than one team while Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 is the only player who has qualified to play for three teams. If the player gets selected to play from an “away” team instead of a “home” team, the “away” team must pay US$ 200,000 to the home side as compensation money. Away teams cannot avail this opportunity if the player gets selected for the home team. Another interesting thing will be to see Sachin Tendulkar play in South African conditions. Sachin will be representing and leading the Mumbai Indians in the CLT20. Tendulkar has had a wonderful season with the IPL and is a threatening player in the T20 format. However, to the surprise of many cricketers, Sachin has only played in one T20 International for his country. One fails to digest any reason that vindicates him for not playing for India and preferring to play for local club sides in the same format of cricket. A man of such class and calibre is like a gold standard in the cricketing world and there is no doubt that Sachin remains an asset in any format of the game for his national side.
Surprisingly, no Pakistani team was selected for this event either. After the IPL snub to Pakistan’s players in 2009, it’s another humiliation for the Pakistani cricketers who have done so much for the game of cricket. It seems as if politics has made a strong footing in the world of sports as well. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128 was not happy for the kind of treatment that was handed to the Pakistani players. He said, “We were hoping to get an invitation for the Champions League this year, but that is not to be it seems. The Stallions were ready to participate and we were looking forward to it”.
Some critics have felt that too much money and politics have caused the failure of its first season and they are afraid that the result will be no different in 2010. South Africa on the other hand has proved to be a country that prides itself in holding successful sporting events. They have successfully hosted some mega events in recent times, including the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2010. Only time will tell if the CLT20 can get the kind of response that the organisers are hoping for.
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