THE brazen attempts to ensure that Indian teams dominate the Champions League T20 (CLT20) have succeeded only half as well as they might have.
Of the 10 finalists in the CLT20 tournaments played so far, just five have come from the Indian Premier League (IPL), despite the fields of 10 or 12 sides having been loaded with three or four IPL sides each year.
Moreover, in 2009 and 2012 all the Indian outfits were eliminated before the final.
But the preferential treatment shines through in the fact that IPL teams have won the Champions League three times out of five. Every time an Indian side has reached the final, they have won.
India is the only country guaranteed at least three places in the CLT20 lineup.
South Africa and Australia have two each, and one is reserved for a West Indian team. Other countries' sides scrap it out in the qualifying tournament that precedes the event proper.
"It is unfair, but we have to accept that all the money for the tournament comes from India," Geoff Toyana, who coached the Lions all the way to the final in 2012, said yesterday of the format.
The 2014 edition of the tournament, which started in Hyderabad yesterday with a game between the Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders, features Kings XI Punjab as the third IPL franchise.
SA's representatives, the Cobras and the Dolphins, get their campaigns going with matches against Northern Districts and the Perth Scorchers tomorrow and Saturday.
That the acrimony between the SA and Indian boards last season still lingers can be read into the CLT20 denying the Cobras permission to replace JP Duminy in their squad.
Champions League T20 favours Indian sides
THE brazen attempts to ensure that Indian teams dominate the Champions League T20 (CLT20) have succeeded only half as well as they might have.
Of the 10 finalists in the CLT20 tournaments played so far, just five have come from the Indian Premier League (IPL), despite the fields of 10 or 12 sides having been loaded with three or four IPL sides each year.
Moreover, in 2009 and 2012 all the Indian outfits were eliminated before the final.
But the preferential treatment shines through in the fact that IPL teams have won the Champions League three times out of five. Every time an Indian side has reached the final, they have won.
India is the only country guaranteed at least three places in the CLT20 lineup.
South Africa and Australia have two each, and one is reserved for a West Indian team. Other countries' sides scrap it out in the qualifying tournament that precedes the event proper.
"It is unfair, but we have to accept that all the money for the tournament comes from India," Geoff Toyana, who coached the Lions all the way to the final in 2012, said yesterday of the format.
The 2014 edition of the tournament, which started in Hyderabad yesterday with a game between the Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders, features Kings XI Punjab as the third IPL franchise.
SA's representatives, the Cobras and the Dolphins, get their campaigns going with matches against Northern Districts and the Perth Scorchers tomorrow and Saturday.
That the acrimony between the SA and Indian boards last season still lingers can be read into the CLT20 denying the Cobras permission to replace JP Duminy in their squad.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos