Champions League 2009 to have 12 teams

Rating: 7.00/10
Written by: Suneer Chowdhary
Sport: cricket
Genre: ipl

Even as the second edition of the Indian Premier League was being played, the governing council for the IPL came out with the announcement that the Champions League of cricket will have 12 teams in place of the earlier planned eight, and will be played between October 8 to 23. The chairman of IPL , Lalit Modi, also said that the prize money for the tournament will be $6million.

Lalit Modi

Last year, the tournament was supposed to be held between 3rd and 10th December, but the attacks on Mumbai had ensured its cancellation. There were plans for eight teams in the tournament, which included two each from India, Australia and South Africa, and one from Pakistan and England. This time around, there will be three teams from India, two each from Australia, England, South Africa, and one from Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand. And apart from the couple of sides from England, the remaining slots have already been decided. England’s domestic T20 tournament is currently in progress.

India will represented by the two finalists of the IPL, Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers, along with the Delhi Daredevils, who had topped the group. Next edition of the IPL will also see a play-off for the third slot. The other teams in the competition will be Victoria and New South Wales from Australia, Eagles and Cobra from South Africa, Wayamba from Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago from the West Indies and Otago from New Zealand.

All the twelve teams will be divided into four groups of three teams each, with the top two teams from each group progressing into the second round. Out of the eight sides in the second round, the top four will make it to the semi-finals

Lalit Modi also said that the Pakistan government hadn’t given any team from Pakistan to travel to India and hence there will be no team from there. He also added that the 2011 edition of the Indian Premier League will see 10 teams instead of the eight that there are currently.

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Comments on this article

Anjali Nambissan, Jun 9,2009 at 05:07

I don't think that this format will last too long. There is just too much T20 cricket and after a while, people will get fed up and want to move to other forms and games.

Aditi Verma, Jun 9,2009 at 05:26

Thats all we needed. Another T20. I think that although this format is popular because of the shorter game and big hits, its not as much fun as a 50-over game. Reason? Well... simple!!! There isn't enough emotional buildup towards the end. Sure a close game can lead to excitement but it is much lesser considering that there isn't enough time to fall back and then pick up speed again.

Kavita Nambissan, Jun 9,2009 at 05:55

T20 is reaching a point wherein soon, series after series will finish within a week. Tours will get smaller and cricket will end up being like baseball - a lesser sport.