It has been non-stop cricket for Team India ever since the long and a rather welcome break in the month of September. Ever since then, the team has locked horns with Australia in a four-test match series, are in the process of completing seven ODI matches with England, to be followed by two test matches against the same team. And once these home matches are dusted, there would be a small matter of touring Pakistan in January, if the security situation ceases to be a factor.

Amidst all this international action, some of the Indian cricketers would also be involved in the Champions League of Cricket that begins from the 3rd of December, and feature eight of the best T20 clubs from around the world.
The concept of the Champions League was introduced even as the players were vying for top honours at the Indian Premier League this year. It works almost similarly to its counterpart in soccer, as there would be the top notch T20 clubs from every country that is involved with the tournament. For this season, the eight clubs come from five nations, namely, India, Australia, South Africa, England and Pakistan. The Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings – the winners and runner-up in the IPL – represent India, there would be Victoria and Western Australia from Down Under, the Titans and the Dolphins would come from South Africa, while Middlesex from England and the Sialkot Stallions from Pakistan complete the line-up. 2009 would see an increase to 12 sides battling it out for the championship.

The format of the first edition would have two groups of four teams each. Each of these groups would see a round-robin and the top two from each of these divisions would complete the semi-final line-up. The winners of these semi-finals would contest the final to decide the first winner of the T20 Champions League.

The Champions League of Cricket has not been without its share of controversies. Even before it has begun, one may add. For starters, since BCCI is the major stakeholder of this tournament – it owns 50% of it – it was evident from the very beginning that any soul even remotely associated with the Indian Cricket League (ICL) would be automatically debarred from being a part of this multi-million dollar party. ICL, for those uninitiated, is a parallel – by certain standards, a rebel – league that was conceptualised by the Essel group in conjunction with the head honcho of Zee group of companies, Subhash Chandra. It is a league which is totally unapproved by the BCCI, and hence the frostiness in the relationship.

Now, while most cricket boards have banned cricketers playing the ICL, England’s labour laws made it difficult to do so. This meant that most of the English cricket counties possess players who have played in the ‘other’ cricket league, thus earning the wrath of the BCCI. With BCCI making its stance clear, that no county with the ICL players would be allowed to compete in the Champions League, it was only Middlesex – shorn of any ICL imports – that could qualify for the tournament. Earlier, there were two sides from the English first class scene that were supposed to qualify for the tournament, but the final invitation went to only one.

With both the boards, the English and the Indian, refusing to budge from their stance, it was left to Pakistan’s Sialkot Stallions to fill in the slot vacated by the English county Kent.

Incidentally, Stallions had a similar problem, with some of its players having played for the ICL in the previous season, but by a stroke of luck, the Champions League got postponed to the month of December, from its previous October scheduling. In the interim, there was another T20 tournament that was held in Pakistan, and the Stallions triumphed again; with the only – but a big – difference that none of the ICL players had been allowed to be a part.

It is rather difficult to pick out favourites for a tournament such as this. Many an expert feel that the two Indian sides, the Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings have a distinct advantage over the others in the fray, because of the rich line-up of national and international players at their disposal. However, one would have to differ here. More than the international ranks, the onus would be on those who purportedly make up the numbers; the cricketers who have been playing and gelling as a team, and these would essentially be the local players.

The disadvantage with having a motley crew of players in a short tournament like this is that there is hardly any time to get together and start performing as a team. This is where the other sides may score over the Indian teams, which would have cricketers from not only across the globe, but throughout the country as well.