Champions League Twenty20 Ready to Return as World Club Championship in 2026

Will RCB Participate in CLT20?

Ever since the news of the start of the CLT20 has come, there has been a lot of excitement among RCB fans about whether Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will be able to participate in this tournament or not. Let us tell you that in the old structure of CLT20, out of the top four IPL teams, three qualified directly in this tournament, while one team had to make a place by playing the qualifying round. Apart from this, it is not yet known when the CLT20 will be organised. If CLT20 is scheduled in the second half of the year like before, then it will depend on RCB's performance in IPL 2026, whether the first-time winners will be able to participate in CLT20 or not. Having won their first IPL title in 2025, the Bengaluru-based franchise will have to finish in top three in IPL 2026 to make it to CLT20.

Why Champions League Twenty20 stopped?

Only the sixth season of the CLT20 could be held. In its last season, Chennai Super Kings became champions in 2014, after which the tournament was stopped. There were many reasons behind its closure. One of the big reasons was that many foreign players find themselves in a confusing situation when their domestic team and IPL team both qualify for CLT20, then they have to make a big decision as to which team they will play in this tournament. Most of the big players choose to play in their IPL franchise and could not play in their domestic team, which their domestic franchise opposed. 

Apart from this, Indian fans used to feel a bit bored with this tournament because IPL was played in the first half of the year, while in the second half their favourite teams were seen playing CLT20 again, due to which they used to feel bored due to an overdose of cricket. Although this tournament did not get as much viewership as the organisers had thought. This league had the highest price among the global T20 domestic tournaments, but cricket fans did not show much interest in it, resulting in the broadcaster also having to suffer losses. 

All Winners of the Champions League Twenty20

Out of the six seasons played in this CLT20, two were held in South Africa, while the other four took place in India. However, out of the 33 teams that played the tournament, only 4 were able to win the title.

No Formal Discussion By ICC On World Club T20 Championship

Sources close to the ICC have revealed that the International governing body has not held any discussions regarding the return of the World Club T20 Championship. There were rumours that the Pakistan Super League (PSL) champions, Lahore Qalandars, would not be involved in the tournament. However, with no discussions taking place in the recent ICC meeting, the rumours of the absence of the PSL team have been quashed. 

The T20 tournament, aimed to bring together global franchises, is a revamped version of the Champions League T20 that used to take place from 2009 to 2015. However, with different boards and their respective T20 leagues involved, the decision to hold such a tournament lies with the ICC.