PremiumCCL 2024: Mumbai Heroes to take on the Kerala Strikers in inaugural match in Sharjah
The first match of the 10th edition of the Celebrity Cricket League is being played in Sharjah on February 23. The T20 match will be played in Test format with each team getting 2 sets of 10 overs
Last Updated: 10.54 PM, Feb 22, 2024
On Friday evening (February 23), the 10th edition of the Celebrity Cricket League will kick off in Sharjah at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, when the 2019 winners Mumbai Heroes take on the Kerala Strikers at 6.30 pm (IST). The T20 match is being played in Test format, with each team getting 2 innings of 10 overs and the one with the higher score winning the match. This is the same format that the tournament had in the last edition as well.
The Kerala Strikers, a team that was inducted from Season 3 onward and was initially captained by owner Mohanlal, is now under the leadership of actor Indrajith Sukumaran. The team, which has not won the tournament yet, but made it to the semi-final stage twice earlier, will look at opening its account and taking the trophy home. The Kerala Strikers is the only team from the south India that is yet to win the tournament.
Although the Mumbai Heroes won in 2019, it was a victory achieved solely on the basis of the team’s performance in the group stage, as the semi-finals and final could not be held owing to inclement weather. Riteish Deshmukh and his team have been semi-finalists four times earlier and this time the goal will be the finale and a win too. In fact, Celebrity Cricket League founder Vishnu Vardhan Induri has been batting for a team from the north to win this edition, given that 8 out of 9 times the winners have been from the south.
Following the inaugural match, day 2 will have two matches, with the first match a repeat of last year’s finale. Defending champions Telugu Warriors will take on runners-up Bhojpuri Dabanggs on February 24 at 2 pm, followed by the Kerala Strikers’ second match; this time against the Bengal Tigers at 6.30 pm. Day 3 in Sharjah sees Chennai Rhinos in action against Punjab De Sher, while the evening’s match is between the Karnataka Bulldozers and the Mumbai Heroes.
The live telecast of the matches can be caught on JioCinema with Hindi commentary. Sony Ten 5 will telecast the last 9 matches, while Doordarshan has the first 11 matches and Doordarshan Sports the last 9 matches. The telecast partners for regional language commentary are Asianet Movies (Malayalam), Star Vijay Super (Tamil), Star Maa Movies (Telugu), Suvarna Plus (Kannada) and PTC Punjabi (Punjabi). The regional coverage, however, will be limited to the four group stage matches involving the language-specific teams, plus any qualifiers.