Celebrity Cricket League


The Celebrity Cricket League is an amateur men's cricket league in India. It consists of nine teams of film actors from nine major regional film industries of Indian cinema. The league commenced in 2011. The CCL teams use various venues for their home games and it has a vast coverage on Indian media.

Establishment

The popularity of the Indian Premier League inspired the CCL, with franchises in major Indian cities. Vishnu Vardhan Induri, an entrepreneur from Hyderabad, is the founder and managing director of CCL. He started the league in 2010 by selling franchise rights for four teams in the inaugural season. For the second season, two additional teams were added.

History

First season

The inaugural season took place in 2011 and included participation from four teams - Chennai Rhinos, Telugu Warriors, Mumbai Heroes, and Karnataka Bulldozers. With CCL season 1, the organizers planned to create awareness about anti-piracy. Chennai Rhinos defeated Karnataka Bulldozers in a competitive final and emerged as the inaugural CCL champions.

Second season

The second season was conducted from 13 January to 13 February 2012. Two new cricket teams, the Kerala Strikers and the Bengal Tigers were added to the CCL. Hindi film industry Team "Mumbai Heroes" selected Sharjah as its home ground. Chennai Rhinos defeated Karnataka Bulldozers for the second time in a row and emerged as the CCL 2 champions.

Third season

The third season had two new teams, Veer Marathi representing the Marathi film industry and Bhojpuri Dabbangs representing the Bhojpuri film industry. In Season 3, the curtain raiser event was held in Mumbai on January 19, 2013 and was regarded by many as a grand affair, where Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu, Prabhu Deva and many other celebrities performed. The opening ceremony was in Kochi on February 9, 2013, where Kerala Strikers played against Mumbai Heroes. Popular Bollywood actor Bipasha Basu was appointed as the brand ambassador for Celebrity Cricket League season 3, along with Kajal Agarwal.
Karnataka Bulldozers defeated Telugu Warriors to become CCL 3 champions.

Fourth season

CCL Season 4 had a bigger reach than the earlier seasons as Colors TV had come in as a broadcast partner for the Mumbai Heroes games and Rishtey TV telecasted all the games. Karnataka Bulldozers qualified for the finals for the 4th consecutive year. They won the cup by defeating Kerala Strikers.

Fifth season

CCL season 5 was the most successful season in terms of revenues and television viewership. As per TAM, CCL was the second most viewed sporting league in the country due to its reach delivered through Colors in Hindi-speaking markets and Sun Network Channels in South India. Telugu Warriors won the trophy for the first time by defeating 2-time champion Chennai Rhinos.

Sixth season

A new team, Punjab De Sher, representing the Punjab film industry, was introduced in place of Veer Marathi. Daler Mehndi was the brand ambassador of the team, with Sonu Sood the captain. Mr. Puneet and Navraj Hans were the owners of the team. Punjab De Sher selected new players for the team. Telugu Warriors won the cup for the second time.

Teams and performance

Teams

Performance

Notes: