Celebrity Cricket League 2026: Season 12 of CCL began in Vizag on January 16, 2026 with the Karnataka Bulldozers and Bhojpuri Dabanggs registering the first two victories of the tournament

Defending champions Punjab De Sher need a win for a fighting chance
In season 12 of the Celebrity Cricket League, every ball matters; the result of only 3 group stage matches will decide which 4 of the 8 teams will move to the semi-finals two weeks later. The Karnataka Bulldozers took the memo quite seriously and made lightwork of the defending champions Punjab De Sher in the season opener on January 16. In the second match of the day, 4-time champions Telugu Warriors were handed a massive defeat by the Bhojpuri Dabanggs.
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Day 2 at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Vizag on January 17 will begin with Riteish Deshmukh’s Mumbai Heroes playing Jisshu Sengupta’s Bengal Tigers. The Tigers had topped the group stage last year, but then stumbled in the semis and fell to eventual champs Punjab De Sher. They will want to keep up their winning streak, while the Heroes will look at preventing a repeat of last year, when they were at the bottom of the points table.
Also read: CCL 2026: Karnataka Bulldozers outplay defending champions Punjab De Sher
The second match of the day has defending champions Punjab De Sher back on the field, still licking their wounds after that drubbing they were handed at the hands of the Karnataka Bulldozers. They play the Telugu Warriors, who had failed to make it to the final four last year and are already on the backfoot, having lost their first match as well.
Also read: CCL2026: Asgar Khan and Manoj Tiwari lead Bhojpuri Dabanggs to victory over the Telugu Warriors
| MATCH | TEAM 1 | TEAM 2 | VENUE | TIME |
| 1 | Mumbai Heroes | Bengal Tigers | ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Vizag | 2 pm onward |
| 2 | Telugu Warriors | Punjab De Sher | ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Vizag | 6.30 pm onward |
After toying with T20 matches played in Test format with 4 innings, CCL2026 reverts to regular T20. The matches are being live streamed by JioHotstar (available via OTTplay Premium as well). Season 12 has one more weekend of cricket matches in Coimbatore, before heading to Hyderabad for the semi-finals and the final. The tournament will end on February 1, 2026.
Q. When is Season 12 of CCL starting?
A. Season 12 of the Celebrity Cricket League begins on January 16, 2026. Eight teams are in the fray, with the winner getting a prize of Rs 50L.
Q. Which team is the defending champions of CCL?
A. Punjab De Sher is the reigning champions of CCL.
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