The Champions League T20 2011 is in its final leg with the knockout stage to go. The tournament was no doubt full of nail biting finishes with wickets tumbling at the last moments or batsmen hitting a six off the last delivery to seal the match but what has been shocking is to see the CLT20 still facing empty stands in the most cricket crazy country in the world. So what actually makes Champions League T20 a big flop?
1. Too much of India- This is the prime reason that I believe makes Champions league T20 a flop amongst the global audiences. Almost everything in CLT20 involves India. From sponsors, venue, advertising to teams and players, everything banks on India. Out of the 3 Champions league tournaments held so far, 2 have been in India while the first one in 2009 was in South Africa that too because it was election time in India. I don't know why the T20 competition involving the world is always held in a single country. Also the Indian teams in the tournament have been increasing from 2 to 4 across the 3 seasons. Each season saw an additional Indian team added and the new season proved to be an even bigger flop than the last one. All the focus is on India to bank upon the cricket popularity in India but in this the basic character of the tournament is lost. But CLT20 being a flop in India is mainly due to the second reason.
2. Cricket Overdose- India is continuously playing cricket throughout the year be it International cricket or IPL. Indian fans seem tired of watching the same cricketers playing again and again. There is no dip in viewership of India's international matches against the major teams while IPL is always awaited as March to May is usually a big off season in Indian cricket. In all this Champions League T20 suffers as by this time fans are actually bored of domestic T20 cricket. The reason for poor response to CLT20 is thus India's packed International calendar.
3. Similarity with IPL- Another reason why people are not much interested in Champions league is that there does not seem to be much difference between IPL and CLT20. Even though obviously the basis of the 2 tournaments is completely different with one being India's domestic T20 championship while the other a world domestic T20 championship but with 4 IPL teams in CLT20 and venue being India with Indian sponsors and India centric approach it seems pretty similar to the IPL. Other countries are mostly ignored.. This year's tournament had 4 IPL teams, 2 teams from South Africa and Australia each and 1 each from West indies and England. Where is the world in the world championship of domestic T20 cricket? There is no Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Why is all the focus on just 1 country? 40% of the tournament is IPL and why would an average Indian fan waste his time on "IPL" twice a year.
4. Dominance of Sponsors- The sponsors have made the cricket tournament more like a business where decisions are based more on money than cricket. The venue is India because the sponsors think its only in India mad cricket crazy fans would spend their money on these matches. They are responsible for increasing the no. of IPL teams each year as they think IPL teams will bring in more money and viewership. This year's IPL had the play off system where the 3 teams for CLT20 were clearly decided eliminating the need for a third place match but then a 4th IPL team KKR was suddenly given a chance to feature in the CLT20. Why? Because this year NOKIA was one of the sponsors and also the main sponsor of KKR and thus influencing the tournament authority to incorporate their team too to maximize profit. That is why this tournament is an overdose of India, there is less focus on cricket and the world and the tournament is a big FLOP.
1. Too much of India- This is the prime reason that I believe makes Champions league T20 a flop amongst the global audiences. Almost everything in CLT20 involves India. From sponsors, venue, advertising to teams and players, everything banks on India. Out of the 3 Champions league tournaments held so far, 2 have been in India while the first one in 2009 was in South Africa that too because it was election time in India. I don't know why the T20 competition involving the world is always held in a single country. Also the Indian teams in the tournament have been increasing from 2 to 4 across the 3 seasons. Each season saw an additional Indian team added and the new season proved to be an even bigger flop than the last one. All the focus is on India to bank upon the cricket popularity in India but in this the basic character of the tournament is lost. But CLT20 being a flop in India is mainly due to the second reason.
2. Cricket Overdose- India is continuously playing cricket throughout the year be it International cricket or IPL. Indian fans seem tired of watching the same cricketers playing again and again. There is no dip in viewership of India's international matches against the major teams while IPL is always awaited as March to May is usually a big off season in Indian cricket. In all this Champions League T20 suffers as by this time fans are actually bored of domestic T20 cricket. The reason for poor response to CLT20 is thus India's packed International calendar.
3. Similarity with IPL- Another reason why people are not much interested in Champions league is that there does not seem to be much difference between IPL and CLT20. Even though obviously the basis of the 2 tournaments is completely different with one being India's domestic T20 championship while the other a world domestic T20 championship but with 4 IPL teams in CLT20 and venue being India with Indian sponsors and India centric approach it seems pretty similar to the IPL. Other countries are mostly ignored.. This year's tournament had 4 IPL teams, 2 teams from South Africa and Australia each and 1 each from West indies and England. Where is the world in the world championship of domestic T20 cricket? There is no Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Why is all the focus on just 1 country? 40% of the tournament is IPL and why would an average Indian fan waste his time on "IPL" twice a year.
4. Dominance of Sponsors- The sponsors have made the cricket tournament more like a business where decisions are based more on money than cricket. The venue is India because the sponsors think its only in India mad cricket crazy fans would spend their money on these matches. They are responsible for increasing the no. of IPL teams each year as they think IPL teams will bring in more money and viewership. This year's IPL had the play off system where the 3 teams for CLT20 were clearly decided eliminating the need for a third place match but then a 4th IPL team KKR was suddenly given a chance to feature in the CLT20. Why? Because this year NOKIA was one of the sponsors and also the main sponsor of KKR and thus influencing the tournament authority to incorporate their team too to maximize profit. That is why this tournament is an overdose of India, there is less focus on cricket and the world and the tournament is a big FLOP.
And theT-20 crictism
ReplyDeleteT20 is not at fault here. Its rather the way the tournament is conducted that makes it a flop.
ReplyDeleteyou are exactly right, there really is no scope left for this kind of a tournament after the massive overdose...and i feel IPL & T20 is ruining our test cricket which should take priority.
ReplyDeletepretty correct manish!
ReplyDeleteYou can chose your fevorite player..Fantasy Cricket League
ReplyDelete