The Champions League T20, which was once considered the World Cup of club cricket, was once held in the style of the UEFA Champions League football.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket South Africa (CSA), two of the ‘three corners’ of world cricket, used to jointly organize the Champions League T20. But it did not happen again after 2014 due to the lack of spectators in the stadiums, lack of interest from cricket fans and lack of interest from sponsors.
After almost a decade, discussions have started to bring back the Club Cricket World Cup. This tournament may return in a new form called the World Club Championship. This was told by Richard Gould, CEO of another influential board in world cricket, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), to cricket website ESPN Cricinfo.
He said, ‘It is in our plans. There will undoubtedly be a World Club Championship for both men and women at some point. This is the next logical step.’
The IPL started in 2008. Since then, the calculations of world cricket have changed. Franchise cricket tournaments have started in different parts of the world.
In 2009, the Champions League T20 saw the light of day. Just as the UEFA Champions League allowed more clubs from the top five leagues (England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France) to participate, the Champions League T20 would have allowed a minimum of three (maximum four) teams from India’s IPL to play.
But this tournament could not generate as much interest as the IPL. As a result, it was declared defunct after six seasons (2009 to 2014) in six years.
In 2009, Richard Gould was the CEO of English county club Somerset. That year, Gould’s Somerset surprised everyone by defeating the then IPL champions Deccan Chargers in their first match in the inaugural edition of the Champions League T20.
Gould now feels that the Champions League T20 started much earlier than it should have. As a result, it failed to become attractive, “That tournament was way ahead of its time. It didn’t live up to the expectations commercially. But it was a very good event.”
The FIFA Club World Cup is starting in the United States this month on a large scale with 32 teams. The Rugby Club World Cup will also be launched from 2028. The Club Cricket World Cup may follow the path shown by football and rugby. The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) team may also be seen there.
However, finding the right time to launch the World Cricket Club Championship may be a big challenge. Now there is international cricket or franchise leagues in all months of the year.
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