The thrills are rather low-octane, the skills are a bit lightweight, and the tournament overly India-centric
Andrew Fidel Fernando16-Sep-2014Among the lines trotted out each year during the Champions League T20 is that the tournament is a damn good idea. Top domestic T20 teams from around the world converge to compete in a condensed, colourful event. It lets domestic cricket’s lesser lights play on the biggest stage they have experienced, while the crowds get their fill of international favourites as well.There appears to be some buzz about the tournament, in India at least. The first day of the qualifiers for this year’s event was said to have been attended by over 46,000 people in Raipur – though that may have been in part because of the India v Pakistan match-by-proxy, between Mumbai Indians and Lahore Lions. Elsewhere, media and fan interest is steadily rising ahead of the main draw.Yet for all that potential, the Champions League has not cracked it globally. International engagements largely stop to allow the tournament free access to the best teams and players, but the cricket has always seemed lightweight – even for T20. It is the juvenile trying to make it in the grown up world, the man who shows up for a corporate job interview in a t-shirt with his ex-girlfriend’s name tattooed on his arm, or the woman crunching numbers in a corner cubicle wearing a clown-suit. The Champions League is difficult to take seriously.There is first the India-centrism of the event, with half of the IPL’s eight sides appearing here, though one of them has to qualify for the tournament proper. There are two from Australia and South Africa as well. It explains the popularity of the tournament in cricket’s more lucrative markets, but it alienates fans from the other cricket nations. It doesn’t help when fabulously loaded franchises like Mumbai Indians pick Northern Knights’ star allrounder Corey Anderson in their squad, then fail to play him in their XI in the first two matches.England have not sent a side to the last two incarnations of the event either, because it is played during their own home season, and does not entail enough money to tempt them. Meanwhile for Sri Lanka, the Champions League is effectively an elaborate cheque-collection expedition. They may be the current World T20 title-holders and the top-ranked side in the format, but it is possible no domestic T20 tournament would exist in Sri Lanka if the $500,000 Champions League payday was not on offer for participation in the tournament.This year, Sri Lanka’s “Super Fours” was shoehorned into a rain-hit week in between two international tours. Southern Express took out the title despite not having won any of their three round-robin matches. Though there is plenty of raw ability in the squad, the team has visibly played too few matches together to launch a worthwhile Champions League campaign. The team is also missing its two biggest names, Lasith Malinga (who, again, is with Mumbai Indians) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (who is missing due to personal reasons).While the Champions League battles for meaning, it also seems a little low-octane to be a true hedonistic thrill. Even the World T20 had light-up LED stumps, but bowlers at the Champions League aim at nothing more than wood and paint. Isn’t this supposed to be domestic cricket’s global glamour showpiece? What is the point of T20 if it does not put viewers in danger of epileptic seizure?There are saving graces. It may be difficult to reel off the winners of each Champions League, unless you are an IPL or Big Bash follower, but there have been admirable performances in previous tournaments. James Neesham had played international cricket before, but had not received worldwide acclaim until his all-round returns for Otago Volts in the 2013 Champions League. That tournament also was the zenith of Pravin Tambe’s compelling story, as he finished top wicket-taker, with 12 scalps.Like in past years, the 2014 Champions League has been a black hole for fielding ability, with even Northern Knights shelling six catches on the trot in their tournament opener, but it has also showcased skill. Tim Southee and Trent Boult ripped through Lahore Lions’ top order with a new-ball partnership that was almost of Test match quality. Lions’ seamers had themselves laid Mumbai Indians low in the first upset of the tournament, the previous night.And it is passages of play like these that mark the route to improvement. The Champions League may never cease to be primarily a financial exercise tapping into the indefatigable demand for fleeting titillation, but if it can produce gripping contests and exhibit quality cricket more often than it has in the past, the tournament may attract the sort of global audience that it seeks to draw.For now, the 2014 event will earn the organisers money. It will entertain the masses for a time. It will probably provide scant reason for avoiding international cricket during its window, and though it will bring a few new names out of the dark, it may not linger in the memory for long after it ends.
