Champions League T20 Set For 2026 Return, Says Report

Champions League T20, a tournament where the top franchises from all around the world rubbed shoulders against each other, is set to return as early as 2026, a report in the Sydney Morning Herald stated. The tournament was launched in 2008 but could only run till 2014 as fan interest could not match the expectations.

As per the report, the finances of the tournament are in discussions right now. The T20 franchise leagues have exploded across cricketing circuit since the last edition of the Champions League T20.

However, top players play for a number of franchises and that could emerge as a problem once the league restarts. For instance, West Indies destructive batter Nicholas Pooran plays for Lucknow Super Giants in IPL but also features for Northern Superchargers in the Hundred, Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League, MI Emirates in the UAE league and MI New York in the Major Cricket League. Apart from these he also turns up for some more teams.

Since the Indian Premier League franchises are the most financially lucrative, most players chose their IPL teams when such clashes occurred earlier in the league. This and the fan interest in Indian teams made the earlier Champions League events heavily favoured towards sides from the IPL.

The last edition of the Champions League T20 was held in India in 2014 with Chennai Super Kings winning the title after defeating Kolkata Knight Riders in the final at Bengaluru, with the edition involving three teams from India, two each from Australia and South Africa and one team side from Pakistan, the West Indies and New Zealand.

Out of the six editions, four were held in India and two were hosted by South Africa. The boards from these two countries alongside Cricket Australia were partners in the league whose rights were bought at a whooping amount by ESPNStar. However, the viewership could not match the desired numbers and thus the tournament was not played after the 2014 season.

Chennai Super Kings won the title in the 2014 edition with a win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the final. Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians won the title twice while New South Wales Blues and Sydney Sixers of Australia won the tournament once each.