The Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) is an amateur men's

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

league in India. It consists of nine teams of film actors from nine major regional film industries of

Indian cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...

. The league commenced in 2011.

Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. In a film career spanning over thirty years, Khan has received numerous awards, including two Nation ...

is Brand Ambassador for Celebrity Cricket League From 2011 for all seasons. 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 The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...

(official T20 League Tournament of India) inspired the CCL, with franchises in major Indian cities.

Vishnu Vardhan Induri Vishnu Vardhan Induri is an Indian film producer known for his works in Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, and bollywood. He owns the media production house "Vibri Media" and is the founder of Celebrity Cricket League, and South Indian International M ...

, an entrepreneur from

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, 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 19 January 2013 and was regarded by many as a grand affair, where

Katrina Kaif Katrina Kaif (; born Katrina Turquotte; 16 July 1983) is a British actress who works in Hindi-language films. One of the highest-paid actresses in India, she has received accolades, including four Screen Awards and four Zee Cine Awards, in a ...

Bipasha Basu Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and former model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolade ...

Prabhu Deva Prabhu Deva (born 3 April 1973) is an Indian dance choreographer, film director, producer and actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada language films. In a career spanning 32 years, he has performed and designed a ...

and many other celebrities performed. The opening ceremony was in Kochi on 9 February 2013, where Kerala Strikers played against Mumbai Heroes. Popular

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

actor

was appointed as the brand ambassador for Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) season 3, along with

Kajal Agarwal Kajal Aggarwal (born 19 June 1985) is an Indian actress and model who mainly appears in Telugu and Tamil language films, in addition to a few Hindi films. Aggarwal has worked in more than 50 films and also received two South Indian Internatio ...

. 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 Colors TV is an Indian general entertainment broadcast network owned by Viacom18. The network's programming consists of family dramas, comedies, youth-oriented reality shows, shows on crime and television films. History It was launched on 2 ...

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 fourth 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 The Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) 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. Salman Khan is Brand Ambassador f ...

, representing the Punjab film industry, was introduced in place of Veer Marathi.

Daler Mehndi Daler Singh (born 18 August 1967), better known as Daler Mehndi, is an Indian singer, songwriter, author, and record producer. He has helped to make Bhangra popular worldwide, as well as Indian pop music independent of Bollywood music. He is be ...

was the brand ambassador of the team, with

Sonu Sood Sonu Sood (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian actor, film producer, model, humanitarian, and philanthropist who works predominantly in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films. In 2009, he received the Andhra Pradesh State Nandi Award for Best Vill ...

the captain. Mr. Puneet and

Navraj Hans Navraj Hans is an Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer. He is the son of Hans Raj Hans and son-in-law of Daler Mehndi. Musical career Navraj Hans has done playback singing for several Bollywood and Punjabi movies. H ...

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

Salman Khan and Vengatesh at CCL match, India

Teams

Performance

Notes: * W = Winner; R = Runner-up; SF = SemiFinalist; GS = Groupstage; F = Finalist; N/A = Not Played; TBA = To Be Announced. * 2018 CCL T10 was cancelled * 2019 CCL T10 Semi-final and final match not conducted due to rain. Based on group stage performance Mumbai Heroes (win all 3 matches) and Karnataka Bulldozers team announced as Runner up (win 2 out of 3 matches).

Best Player in Celebrity Cricket League

Venues

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

Narendra Modi Stadium The Narendra Modi Stadium (Gujarati: નરેન્દ્ર મોદી સ્ટેડિયમ; Hindi: नरेन्द्र मोदी स्टेडियम), formerly known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium is a cricket stadium ...

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

M. Chinnaswamy Stadium The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium (formerly known as the Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium) is a cricket stadium located in Bangalore, Karnataka. Flanked by the picturesque Cubbon Park, Queen's Road, Cubbon and uptown MG Road, this five-dec ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

M. A. Chidambaram Stadium M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, commonly known as the Chepauk Stadium, is a cricket stadium in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1916, it is the second oldest cricket stadium in the country after Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Formerly known as Ma ...

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium *

Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, also colloquially known as Hyderabad Cricket Stadium is a cricket stadium in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Located in the eastern suburb of Uppal, it has a maximum capacity of 55,000 and extend ...

Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium The Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, formerly known as Fateh Maidan, is a multi-purpose sports stadium in Hyderabad, Telangana. The stadium is primarily used for cricket and association football. The stadium was renamed in 1967 in memory of Lal Bah ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Brabourne Stadium The Brabourne Stadium is a cricket ground in Mumbai in Western India, built in the British Bombay era. It was the home ground of the Mumbai men's and women's cricket teams. It can accommodate 50,000 people for sports matches. The ground is owne ...

: DY Patil Stadium *

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

: Maharashtra Cricket Association Cricket Stadium *

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

Dubai International Cricket Stadium The Dubai International Stadium, formerly known as the Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is mainly used for cricket and is one of the three main cricket stadiums in the country, the o ...

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital o ...

Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium The Sharjah Cricket Stadium ( ar, ملعب الشارقة للكريكيت) is in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. It holds the record for the most ODIs hosted in a venue with 240 ODIs up to December 2019. It was originally constructed in t ...

Siliguri Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms twin cities, "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian sta ...

Kanchenjunga Stadium The Kanchenjunga Stadium, also known as Kanchanjungha Krirangan, is a multi-purpose stadium in Siliguri, India. It is mainly used for cricket and association football, football matches. Built in the 1980s, the stadium holds a capacity of 40,000, ...

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...

Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literall ...

Barabati Stadium The Barabati Stadium is an Indian sports stadium used mostly for cricket and association football, and also sometimes for concerts and field hockey, located in Cuttack, Odisha. It is a regular venue for international cricket and is the home gro ...

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

JSCA International Stadium Complex JSCA International Stadium Complex formally known as (Jharkhand State Cricket Association International Cricket Stadium), and also known as Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium, is an international cricket stadium in Ranchi, Jharkhand. ...

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

Sector 16 Stadium The Sector 16 Stadium is a cricket stadium in Chandigarh, India. It hosted its first One Day International match in January 1985 and its only Test match in 1990. It has hosted only four matches. The likes of Kapil Dev, Chetan Sharma and Yogra ...

Squads

References

External links

{{Commons category 2011 establishments in Andhra Pradesh Indian domestic cricket competitions Cricket leagues in India Recurring sporting events established in 2011