All about Champions League Twenty20

The Champions League Twenty20 is one of the leading T20 cricket tournament which features the top domestic Twenty20 sides of the world. After the grand successes of the Indian Premier League in its inaugural season of 2008 the cricket boards of India, Australia and South Africa got together to conceptualize Champions League Twenty20. Indian Premier League saw unprecedented success in its inaugural edition in 2008 and it was evident that Twenty20 format of cricket has huge potential to be commercially successful. Champions League Twenty20 was planned and its first edition was held in India and the second edition is to be hosted by South Africa in 2010.

How did the Champions League T20 originate?
The concept of an international tournament between major domestic teams from around the world was first the first conceived almost 2 decades back in 1990s but it was only possible with the advent of Twenty20 cricket. Indian Premier League was a huge success in its inaugural edition in 2008 and this propelled cricket officials of England, India, Australia and South Africa to conceptualize an international T20 tournament between all major domestic teams from around the world. The new concept took the game of cricket to a different level. The attempt was to replicate the popularity of club-based competitions in other sports, most notably football.

Problems faced by Champions League T20
The inaugural season of Champions League T20 was to be played in India in December 2008. The tournament had to be cancelled after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008. The first edition of Champions League T20 was eventually held in India in September 2009 but teams from Pakistan were not able to participate due to the political situation.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) refused to make Champions League T20 a part of the Future Tours Program (FTP) which made it difficult to find a window in the international calendar as all international players may not be available for the tournament.

The outcome of this decision of ICC had an effect which was felt in Champions League T20 2010 as the event schedule clashed with the end of the English domestic season which forced ECB to withdraw its counties from Champions League T20.

Teams of Champions League T20
In the inaugural season of Champions League T20 in 2009 12 teams participated in the tournament. The Champions League T20 2009 included:

• The top three from the IPL (Deccan Chargers, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils)

• The finalists of the Australian domestic Twenty20 (Victoria and New South Wales)

• The finalists of South Africa's Pro20 (Cape Cobras and Eagles)

• The finalists of England's Twenty20 Cup (Somerset and Sussex)

• Winners of the Stanford 20/20 from West Indies (Trinidad and Tobago)

• Winners of the HRV Cup from New Zealand (Otago)

• Winners of the Inter-provincial Twenty20 tournament from Sri Lanka (Wayamba).

The inaugural season of Champions League T20 was won by New South Wales, who defeated Trinidad & Tobago in the final. The second edition of Champions League T20 which is played in South Africa from September 10th will feature 10 teams. The Champions League T20 2010 teams are:

• Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore from India

• Victoria and South Australia from Australia

• Highveld Lions and Warriors from South Africa

• Guyana from the West Indies

• Central Districts Stags from New Zealand

• Wayamba from Sri Lanka

Tournament format for Champions League T20
The inaugural edition of Champions League T20 which was played in India in 2009 saw 12 teams participating which were split into four groups of three each, with two from each group proceeding to a league stage. The eight qualifying teams were put into two groups of which top two teams from each group were the semifinalists. Champions League T20 2010 has ten teams split into two groups of five each. The top two from each group will contest the semi-finals.

Teams announce final squad for Champions League T20

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni, S Badrinath, M Vijay, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Shadab Jakati, A Srikkanth, L Balaji, Muttiah Muralitharan, Michael Hussey, Doug Bollinger, Thilan Thushara, Albie Morkel, Matthew Hayden, Joginder Sharma.

Warriors: Davy Jacobs, Ashwell Prince, Colin Ingram, Mark Boucher, Johan Botha, Nicky Boje, Craig Thyssen, Juan Theron, Makhaya Ntini, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Justin Kreusch, Garnett Kruger, Arno Jacobs, Lyall Meyer, Jon Jon Smuts.

Victoria: David Hussey, Ryan Carters, Aaron Finch, Shane Harwood, John Hastings, Brad Hodge, Andrew McDonald, Bryce McGain, Clint McKay, Glenn Maxwell, Dirk Nannes, James Pattinson, Rob Quiney, Peter Siddle, Matthew Wade.

Wayamba: Jehan Mubarak, Mahela Udawatte, Mahela Jayawardene, Jeevantha Kulatunga, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Kushal Janith Perera, Rangana Herath, Chanaka Welegedara, Ajantha Mendis, Farveez Maharoof, Thissara Perera, Damitha Hunukumbura, Shalika Karunanayake, Isuru Udana, Sameera Zoysa.

Central Districts: Adam Milne, Bevan Griggs, Brad Patton, Brendon Diamanti, Doug Bracewell, George Worker, Jacob Oram, Jamie How, Kieran Noema-Barnett, Mathew Sinclair, Michael Mason, Mitchell McClenaghan, Peter Ingram, Seth Rance, Tim Weston.

Mumbai Indians: Shikhar Dhawan, Sachin Tendulkar, Ambati Rayudu, Saurabh Tiwary, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, R Sathish, Ali Murtaza, Dhawal Kulkarni, Aditya Tare, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, JP Duminy, Lasith Malinga, Ryan McLaren.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Praveen Kumar, R Vinay Kumar, Virat Kohli, Cameron White, Ross Taylor, Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis, Dillon du Preez, B Akhil, Abhimanyu Mithun, Nayan Doshi.

South Australia: Cullen Bailey, Daniel Harris, Graham Manou, Daniel Christian, Gary Putland, Peter George, Callum Ferguson, Michael Klinger, Jake Haberfield, Tim Ludeman, Shaun Tait, Tom Cooper, Chris Duval, Cameron Borgas, Aaron O'Brien.

Guyana: Ramnaresh Sarwan, Royston Crandon, Lennox Cush, Travis Dowlin, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Narsingh Deonarine, Jonathan Foo, Derwin Christian, Christopher Barnwell, Esuan Crandon, Devendra Bishoo, Assad Fudadin, Paul Wintz, Steven Jacobs, Richard Ramdeen.

Lions: Alviro Peterson, Thami Tsolekile, Craig Alexander, Shane Burger, Richard Cameron, Werner Coetsee, Cliffe Deacon, Zander de Bruyn, Robert Frylinck, Neil McKenzie, Ethan O'Rielly, Aaron Phangiso, Jean Symes, Jonathan Vandiar, Vaughn van Jaarsveld.

Preliminary squad announced by 8 teams for Champions League T20

The Champions League T20 will start from the 10th of next month and eight team's namely, Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Central Districts, Highveld Lions, Royal Challengers Bangalore, South Australian Redbacks, Victorian Bushrangers and Warriors have announced their preliminary squad for the T20 tournament to be played in South Africa.

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni, S Badrinath, M Vijay, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel (wk), R Ashwin, Shadab Jakati, Sudeep Tyagi, S Anirudha, L Balaji, Muttiah Muralitharan, Michael Hussey, Albie Morkel, Thilan Thushara, Thissara Perera, Doug Bollinger, Matthew Hayden, Andrew Flintoff, Joginder Sharma, Abhinav Mukund

Mumbai Indians: Sachin Tendulkar, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Saurabh Tiwary, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, R Sathish, Ali Murtaza, Dhawal Kulkarni, Abhishek Nayar, Abu Nechim Ahmed, Ajinkya Rahane, Kieran Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Sushant Marathe, JP Duminy, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Ryan McLaren, Luke Ronchi

Central Districts: Adam Milne, Ben Wheeler, Bevan Griggs, Bevan Small, Brad Patton, Brendon Diamanti, Dane Cleaver, Doug Bracewell, George Worker, Jacob Oram, Jamie How, Jeremy Kuru, Kieran Noema-Barnett, Mathew Sinclair, Michael Mason, Mitchell McLeneghan, Peter Ingram, Ross Taylor, Seth Rance, Tim Weston

Highveld Lions: Alviro Peterson, Thami Tsolekile, Craig Alexander, Shane Burger, Richard Cameron, Themba Bavuma, Werner Coetsee, Stephen Cook, Cliffie Deacon, Zander de Bruyn, Robert Frylinck, Pumelala Matchikew, Andre Nel, Neil McKenzie, Aaron Phangiso, Ethan O'Reilly, Jean Symes, Dane Vilas, Jonathan Vandiar, Vaughn van Jaarsveld

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Virat Kohli, Cameron White, Ross Taylor, Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis, Dillon Du Preez, Steven Smith, Akhil Balachandra, Abhimanyu Mithun, Nayan Doshi, Pankaj Singh, Sridharan Sriram, Udit Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar

South Australian Redbacks: Cullen Bailey, James Smith, Daniel Harris, Graham Manou, Daniel Christian, Gary Putland, Peter George, Callum Ferguson, Michael Klinger, Kane Richardson, Michael Cranmer, Jake Haberfield, Tim Ludeman, Shaun Tait, Tom Cooper, Chris Duval, Cameron Borgas, Aaron O'Brien, Daniel Cullen, Joel Davies

Victorian Bushrangers: Dwayne Bravo, Ryan Carters, Aaron Finch, Shane Harwood, John Hastings, Bradley Hodge, Jon Holland, David Hussey, Andrew McDonald, Bryce McGain, Clinton McKay, Glenn Maxwell, Dirk Nannes, Darren Pattinson, James Pattinson, Robert Quiney, Peter Siddle, Matthew Wade, Cameron White, Damien Wright

Warriors: Davey Jacobs, Ashwell Prince, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Johan Botha, Nicky Boje, Craig Thyssen, Juan Theron, Wayne Parnell, Makhaya Ntini, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Justin Kreusch, Garnett Kruger, Arno Jacobs, Lyall Meyer, Andrew Birch, Kelly Smuts, Jon Jon Smuts, Corbyn Dolley

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