Champions League T20 to be played in India this year

The Champions League T20 tournament, which features the champions of various T20 tournaments played in the major cricketing continents, is set to return to India this season for the third time in five years. The last edition of the coveted league was played in South Africa.

BCCI said in a statement, “The Champions League Twenty20 will return to India for the third time in five years in 2013 after the dates and format for this year’s tournament were confirmed by the CLT20 Governing Council.

“The world’s premier domestic T20 competition will be played from 17 September to 6 October. The tournament will follow a similar format to the two previous editions with a Group Stage preceded by a Qualifier.

“A total of 29 matches will be played in the tournament by the best domestic T20 teams from around the world.”

The league’s governing body also confirmed that the winner of the tournament will get a total prize money of USD six million.

Three top teams from this year’s IPL will earn a direct entry into the Group Stage of the league. Fourth ranked IPL team along with Otago Volts (New Zealand’s HRV Cup champions) and the winners of the Sri Lanka and Pakistan domestic T20 competitions will compete in the Qualifier prior to the tournament.

Trinidad and Tobago, who were the runners-up in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2009, have earned direct entry into the Group Stage this year after playing in the Qualifier in 2011 and 2012.

Source- NDTV Sports