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

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

league in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It consists of eight teams of

film actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

s from different film industries of

Indian cinema The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on p ...

. The league commenced in 2011.

Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; born 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who predominantly works in Hindi films. In a career spanning over three decades, his awards include two National Film Awa ...

is the

brand ambassador A brand ambassador (sometimes also called a corporate ambassador) is a person paid by an organization or company to represent its brand in a positive light, helping to increase brand awareness and sales. The brand ambassador is meant to embody the ...

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 in Indian media.

Establishment

The popularity of the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

inspired the CCL, with franchises in major Indian cities. Vishnu Vardhan Induri, an entrepreneur from

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, 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 Invenio Origin is a Dubai-based film distribution company that also, has its presence in Singapore and India, produces Indian films, primarily in South India under its banner Invenio Films India. It is headed by Alankar Pandian. History Fil ...

, 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 took place in 2011 and included participation from ariyumo four teams - Chennai Rhinos, Telugu Warriors,

Mumbai Heroes Mumbai Heroes is an Indian celebrity cricket team based in Mumbai, competing in the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) representing Hindi cinema. The team is made up of celebrities from the Indian film industry. It plays its home matches at Brabourne ...

, 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 "

" 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 Rosemary Turcotte, 16 July 1983) is a British actress who works in Hindi-language films. One of the highest-paid actresses in India, she has received numerous accolades, including four Screen Awards and four Zee C ...

Bipasha Basu Bipasha Basu (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she List of awards and nominations received by Bipasha Basu, has received a Filmfare Awards, Filmfare Award. In the 2000s and 2010s, she was ...

Prabhu Deva Prabhu Deva (born 3 April 1973) is an Indian dance choreographer, film director, producer and actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil language, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu language films also appeared in few Kannada and Malayal ...

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

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

actor

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

Kajal Aggarwal Kajal A Kitchlu (née Aggarwal; born 19 June 1985), known professionally as Kajal Aggarwal, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. Aggarwal is considered as one of the highest paid actresses of South In ...

. 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 pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. Its programming consists of Soap opera, family dramas, Comedy, comedies, fantasy shows, youth-oriented Rea ...

had come in as a broadcast partner for the

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 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 (music), Bhangra popular worldwide, as well as Indian pop music independent of Bollywoo ...

was the brand ambassador of the team, with

Sonu Sood Sonu Sood (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian actor, film producer, Model (person), model, humanitarian, and Philanthropy, philanthropist who works predominantly in Hindi cinema, Hindi, Telugu cinema, Telugu and Tamil cinema, Tamil films. He is k ...

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. Hi ...

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.

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

(win all 3 matches) and Karnataka Bulldozers (win 2 out of 3 matches) teams announced as Winner and Runner up respectively.

Best performance

Squads

Venues

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled 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 ...

: Sardar Patel Stadium *

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

M. Chinnaswamy Stadium The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, also known as the Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium, is a cricket stadium in Bengaluru city of the Indian state of Karnataka. The ground is owned by the Government of Karnataka and operated by the Karnata ...

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

: M. A. Chidambaram Stadium *

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium *

Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, commonly known as Uppal Stadium, is an international cricket stadium in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It is owned and operated by Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). It is the home ground of ...

Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium may refer to: * Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, a multi-purpose stadium in Hyderabad, India * Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Kollam, a multi-purpose stadium in Kollam, India {{disambiguation ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Brabourne Stadium The Brabourne Stadium is an international cricket stadium in Mumbai in Western India, built in the British Bombay era. It is the home ground of the Mumbai men's and Mumbai women's cricket team, women's cricket teams. It can accommodate 50,000 pe ...

DY Patil Stadium The DY Patil Stadium (officially known as Dr. DY Patil Sports Stadium) is a multi-purpose sports arena in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Owned by Marathi politician Dnyandeo Yashwantrao Patil, it is based in the D.Y. Patil Sports Academy ...

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

: Maharashtra Cricket Association Cricket Stadium *

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

Dubai International Cricket Stadium The Dubai International Stadium, aka 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 other two being ...

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium The Sharjah Cricket Stadium () is located in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. It holds the record for being the venue that hosted the highest number of international matches, 294 matches, up to March 17, 2024. It was originally constructed ...

Siliguri Siliguri (, ; ), also known as Shiliguri, is a major Tier ii cities in india, tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms the twin cities, Twin Cities with the neighbouring city of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeel ...

: Kanchenjunga Stadium *

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the largest and ...

Greenfield International Stadium Greenfield International Stadium also known as The Sports Hub, Trivandrum (previously as Trivandrum International Stadium), is a multi-purpose stadium in capital city Thiruvananthapuram in the state Kerala, India. It is primarily used for intern ...

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

: Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy International Cricket Stadium *

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

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 gr ...

Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population 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 ...

: JSCA International Stadium Complex *

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

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 Yogr ...

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...

Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium The Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium, also known as the Nava Raipur International Cricket Stadium, is a 65,000-seater venue in the city of Nava Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India. It is the third largest cricket stadium in In ...

Mohali Mohali, officially Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar or Ajitgarh, is a planned city in the Mohali district in Punjab, India, Punjab, India, which is an administrative and a commercial hub lying south-west of Chandigarh. It is the headquarters of the M ...

Inderjit Singh Bindra Stadium The I. S. Bindra Punjab Cricket Association Stadium is a cricket ground located in Mohali, Punjab, India. It is commonly referred to as the Mohali Stadium. The stadium is home to the Punjab cricket team and formerly the IPL franchise Punjab Kin ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

: Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium *

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

: Lalbhai Contractor Stadium

References

External links

{{Commons category 2011 establishments in Andhra Pradesh Recurring sporting events established in 2011 Salman Khan