The stage is all set for the inaugural edition of the Champions League Twenty20 to get underway tonight at Bangalore's M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The tournament was supposed to start last year, but was deferred because of the unfortunate 26/11 attacks on Mumbai.This has resulted in some of the teams who had qualified for the tournament in November 2008 missing out this time around, most notably Indian Premier League (IPL) teams Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, and English county Middlesex. These teams though don't have a cause for complaint as they failed to repeat their success in the 2009 season of their respective domestic tournaments.
The concept of a Champions League in cricket itself is all set to the give the game a different dimension, as the clubs participating in the tournament, will be slugging it out for the title of the best Twenty20 domestic team in the world. Apart from the large amount of prize money on offer, that tag also would be incentive enough for players to take the tournament seriously. The sport of soccer has its own Champions League, and it has been seen through the years that it is one trophy that all the clubs in the world want in their cabinets.
Lalit Modi and the rest of the management committee of the Champions League Twenty20 would be hoping that the CL T20 turns out to be the equivalent of soccer's Champions League in the long run -- in terms of the importance of the trophy to clubs around the world. The idea to bring the champions and runners-up from domestic tournaments around the world together in one tournament deserves to be lauded as it is a further step in working towards the globalisation of the sport. While the purists may complain that Twenty20 cricket is nothing but entertainment, the fact remains that a tournament of this nature does give some hitherto unknown players to make an impression on the global stage.
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