Celebrity Cricket League

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.

In January 2024, With South Indian International Media Awards (SIIMA) completing 12 years and Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) gearing up for its 10th season, the founder of SIIMA and CCL Vishnu Vardhan Induri joins forces with Alankar Pandian of Invenio Origin, a media investment fund based out of Singapore and Dubai to launch a New Pan India Media IP called Indian National Cine Academy (INCA) along with scaling up SIIMA and CCL.

History

First season

The inaugural season of CCLCricket took place in 2011 and included participation from ariyumo 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 Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu, Prabhu Deva and many other celebrities performed. The opening ceremony was in Kochi on 9 February 2013, where Kerala Strikers played against Mumbai Heroes. Bollywood actor Bipasha Basu was appointed as the brand ambassador for Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) season 3, along with Kajal Aggarwal. 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 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, 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.

Tenth season

In CCL Season 10, the first schedule took place at the UAE's Sharjah Stadium, with an introduction ceremony held near the Burj Khalifa. Five teams displayed extraordinary all-round performances, winning three out of four matches each. However, Telugu Warriors lagged behind due to their net run rate, while Karnataka, Mumbai, Bengal, and Chennai advanced to the semifinals. In the finals, Karnataka and Bengal faced off, with Bengal emerging as the new champions of the season.

Eleventh season

Only seven teams participated as Kerala did not take part. Defending champions Bengal continued their dominant form, winning all four of their league matches. Bengaluru maintained their usual standard with three wins, while Punjab reached the semifinals for the first time. Chennai, initially planning to withdraw due to financial reasons, stayed in the tournament following Sudeep's request and made it to the finals. In the final match, Punjab defeated Chennai, securing the championship after 11 years.

Twelfth season

The most consistent team of the CCL KARNATAKA BULLDOZERS beat Bengal Tigers team in the finale to win the trophy for the Third time, after 12 years of wait. It was a complete domination from the team since they won the trophy being unbeaten in the tournament. Kiccha Sudeep is delighted for winning the trophy for the third time and bringing it to Karnataka state.

Teams and performance

Current teams

Defunct team

Total performance

Notes:

• W = Winner; R = Runner-up; SF = SemiFinalist; GS = GroupStage

• 2018 CCL T10 was cancelled

• 2019 CCL T10 Semi-final and final matches were not conducted due to rain. Based on group stage performance Mumbai Heroes (win all 3 matches) and Karnataka Bulldozers (win 2 out of 3 matches) teams announced as Winner and Runner up respectively.

• Stats till 25th Jan 2026

Best performance

Squads

Venues

• Ahmedabad: Sardar Patel Stadium
• Bengaluru: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium
• Chennai: M. A. Chidambaram Stadium
• Kochi: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
• Hyderabad: Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium
• Hyderabad: Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium
• Mumbai: Brabourne Stadium
• Mumbai: DY Patil Stadium
• Mysore: Srikantadatta Narasimha Raja Wadiyar Ground
• Pune: Maharashtra Cricket Association Cricket Stadium
• Dubai: Dubai International Cricket Stadium
• Sharjah: Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium
• Siliguri: Kanchenjunga Stadium
• Trivandrum: Greenfield International Stadium
• Visakhapatnam: Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy International Cricket Stadium
• Cuttack: Barabati Stadium
• Ranchi: JSCA International Stadium Complex
• Chandigarh: Sector 16 Stadium
• Raipur: Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium
• Mohali: Inderjit Singh Bindra Stadium
• Delhi: Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium
• Surat: Lalbhai Contractor Stadium

References

References

1. (12 January 2012). "Celeb Cricket League is back with a bang". [[The Times of India]].
2. Trivedi, Bina. (20 January 2012). "CCL: Superstar cricketainment". [[The Times of India]].
3. 2013 Inauguration venue = Kochi, Kerala [http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2011060564880600.htm&date=2011/06/05/&prd=th& ''Beauty, brawn ... and then there was cricket''], The Hindu, 5 June 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
4. [https://archive.today/20120720065409/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-23/news-interviews/30653079_1_telugu-warriors-telugu-stars-mohanlal ''CCL-II: A starry showdown''], The Times of India, 23 January 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
5. Megha Shenoy [http://www.deccanherald.com/content/166684/a-feast-eyes.html ''A feast for the eyes''], Deccan Herald, February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
6. Gooptu, Biswarup. (11 February 2012). "Celebrity League rivals IPL on TV, in stadia". The Economic Times.
7. Correspondent, D. C.. (18 January 2024). "Indian National Cine Academy (INCA) Unveiled for Cinematic Unity".
8. (25 May 2011). "It's celebrity cricket league next". The Times of India.
9. "About Us – CCL Social Initiative". cclt20 Pvt Ltd.
10. (9 August 2011). "CCL is back for season two!". The Times of India.
11. "TruthDive – South Asian News and Opinion. India".
12. "Salman Khan performs at Celebrity Cricket League curtain raiser – Cricket Country".
13. "TruthDive – South Asian News and Opinion. India".
14. "Celebrity Cricket League: Salman, Bipasha, Kangana add glam".
15. "Celebrity Cricket League (CCL)-the Official Website".
16. (7 November 2024). "'Punjab De Sher' Joins CCL's 6th Edition with Star Power – YPBB News".
17. "Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) 2020 Winners List of All Seasons [1 to 6]. Winners List".