Celebrity Cricket League

Celebrity Cricket League
Tournament logo
CountriesIndia India
HeadquartersHyderabad, Telangana, India
FormatT20(Current) T10
First edition2011
Latest edition2026
Next edition2027
Tournament formatRound-robin and Knockout
Number of teams8
Current championKarnataka Bulldozers(3rd Title)
Most successfulTelugu Warriors(4 Titles)
TVJioHotstar
Websitewww.ccl.in
2026 Celebrity Cricket League

The Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) is an exhibition men's cricket league in India. It consists of eight teams of film actors from different film industries of Indian cinema. The league commenced in 2011.[1][2]Salman Khan is the 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 in Indian media.[3][4][5]

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.[6]

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.[7]

History

Winners of theCelebrity Cricket League
SeasonWinners
2011 Chennai Rhinos
2012 Chennai Rhinos (2)
2013 Karnataka Bulldozers
2014 Karnataka Bulldozers (2)
2015 Telugu Warriors
2016 Telugu Warriors (2)
2017 Telugu Warriors (3)
2019 Mumbai Heroes
2023 Telugu Warriors (4)
2024 Bengal Tigers
2025 Punjab De Sher
2026 Karnataka Bulldozers (3)

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.[8] With CCL season 1, the organizers planned to create awareness about anti-piracy.[9] 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.[10] Chennai Rhinos defeated Karnataka Bulldozers for the second time in a row and emerged as the CCL 2 champions.

Third season

Genelia D'Souza supporting Mumbai Heroes

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,[11] where Salman Khan,[12]Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu, Prabhu Deva and many other celebrities performed.[13] 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.[14][15] 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

Brand Ambassador for Celebrity Cricket League From 2011 Salman Khan (center) with Jeet and Suniel Shetty (left) Venkatesh and Sudeepa (right) at a CCL match in 2012

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.[16]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.[17]

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

Bengal and Karnataka continued their strong form from the previous season, once again reaching the semifinals. Kerala and Chennai delivered consistent performances to secure playoffs berths. The defending champions, Punjab, failed to qualify for the playoffs. Karnataka went on to win the title, defeating Bengal in the final to bag their third championship and end a 12-year title drought.

Teams and performance

Current teams

Band Team Industry State Captain Debut Ownership
Telugu WarriorsTelugu/TollywoodAndhra Pradesh, TelanganaAkkineni Akhil2011 Venkatesh Daggubati, Sachin Joshi
Mumbai HeroesHindi/BollywoodMaharashtraRiteish Deshmukh2011 Sohail Khan
Bengal TigersBengali/TollywoodWest BengalJisshu Sengupta2012 Boney Kapoor, Raj Shah
Bhojpuri DabbangsBhojpuri/BhojiwoodUttar Pradesh, Bihar, JharkhandManoj Tiwari2013 Sushil Sharma · Kanishk Sheel · Rahul Mishra · Sushil Malik
Chennai KingsTamil/KollywoodTamil NaduVikranth2026 Ishari K. Ganesh, Sripriya Rajkumar
Karnataka BulldozersKannada/SandalwoodKarnatakaSudeep2011 Ashok Kheny
Kerala StrikersMalayalam/MollywoodKeralaUnni Mukundan2012 Mohanlal, Rajkumar, Sripriya, Shaji, Jaison, Mibu Jose Nettikaden
Punjab De SherPunjabi/PollywoodPunjabHarrdy Sandhu2016 Navraj Hans, Puneet Singh

Defunct team

Band Team Industry State Captain Debut Ownership
Veer MarathiMarathiMaharashtraMahesh Manjrekar2013 Riteish Deshmukh
Chennai RhinosTamil/KollywoodTamil NaduArya2011 K. Ganga Prasad

Total performance

Sns.
Tms.
2011(4)2012(6)2013(8)2014(8)2015(8)2016(8)2017(6)2019(6)2023(8)2024(8)2025(7)2026(8)
Chennai Kings (Chennai Rhinos) WWGS GS R GS GS GS SF R SF
Karnataka BulldozersR R WWSF R GS R SF R SF W
Mumbai Heroes GS SF GS SF SF GS GS WSF SF GS GS
Telugu Warriors GS SF R GS WWWGS WGS GS GS
Bengal Tigers GS GS GS GS SF GS SF GS WSF R
Kerala Strikers GS SF R GS GS R GS GS SF
Bhojpuri Dabbangs GS SF GS SF SF R GS GS GS
Veer MarathiSF GS GS
Punjab De Sher GS GS GS GS WGS

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
Appearances Playoffs Titles Matches Won Lost NR
Bengal Tigers 11 5 1 46 18 25 3
Bhojpuri Dabbangs 9 4 0 36 15 18 3
Karnataka Bulldozers 12 11 3 58 39 16 3
Kerala Strikers 9 4 0 36 17 18 1
Mumbai Heroes 12 6 1 48 18 27 3
Punjab De Sher 6 1 1 22 6 15 1
Telugu Warriors 12 6 4 51 33 17 1
Chennai kings (Chennai Rhinos) 11 6 2 47 20 24 3
Veer Marathi3 1 0 11 3 8 0

Best performance

Team Appearances Best result
Total First Latest
Telugu Warriors 1220112026Champions (2015, 2016, 2017, 2023)
Karnataka Bulldozers 1220112026Champions (2013, 2014, 2026)
Chennai Kings (Chennai Rhinos) 1120112026Champions (2011, 2012)
Mumbai Heroes1220112026Champions (2019)
Bengal Tigers 1120122026Champions (2024)
Punjab De Sher 620162026Champions (2025)
Kerala Strikers 920122026Runners-up (2014, 2017)
Bhojpuri Dabbangs 920132026Runners-up (2023)
Veer Marathi320132015Semi-finals (2013)

Squads

Mumbai Heroes Bengal Tigers Karnataka Bulldozers Chennai Rhinos Telugu Warriors Kerala Strikers Bhojpuri Dabang Punjab De Sher Veer Marathi (Defunct team)

Former players:

Head Coach:

Former players:

Former players:

Former players:

Former players:

Former players:

Venues

References

  1. ^"Celeb Cricket League is back with a bang". The Times of India. 12 January 2012. Archived from the original on 4 September 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  2. ^Trivedi, Bina (20 January 2012). "CCL: Superstar cricketainment". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  3. ^2013 Inauguration venue = Kochi, Kerala Beauty, brawn ... and then there was cricket, The Hindu, 5 June 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  4. ^CCL-II: A starry showdown, The Times of India, 23 January 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  5. ^Megha Shenoy A feast for the eyes, Deccan Herald, February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  6. ^Gooptu, Biswarup; Raghavendra, Nandini (11 February 2012). "Celebrity League rivals IPL on TV, in stadia". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  7. ^Correspondent, D. C. (18 January 2024). "Indian National Cine Academy (INCA) Unveiled for Cinematic Unity". Deccan Chronicle.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  8. ^"It's celebrity cricket league next". The Times of India. 25 May 2011. Archived from the original on 17 November 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  9. ^"About Us – CCL Social Initiative". Celebrity Cricket League. cclt20 Pvt Ltd. Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  10. ^"CCL is back for season two!". The Times of India. 9 August 2011. Archived from the original on 17 September 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  11. ^"TruthDive – South Asian News and Opinion. India". Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2013. CCL 3 : Celebrity Cricket League curtain raiser event on 19 Jan in Mumbai
  12. ^"Salman Khan performs at Celebrity Cricket League curtain raiser – Cricket Country". Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2013. Salman Khan performed at Celebrity Cricket League curtain raiser
  13. ^"TruthDive – South Asian News and Opinion. India". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2013. CCL 3 curtain raiser event, a star-studded affair
  14. ^"Celebrity Cricket League: Salman, Bipasha, Kangana add glam". Daily Bhaskar. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015.
  15. ^"Celebrity Cricket League (CCL)-the Official Website". Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2013. Bipasha Basu as Brand Ambassador for CCL Season-3
  16. ^"'Punjab De Sher' Joins CCL's 6th Edition with Star Power – YPBB News". 7 November 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  17. ^"Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) 2020 Winners List of All Seasons [1 to 6]. Winners List". Retrieved 4 April 2020.
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