Celebrity Cricket League 2026: Day 1 January 16 match schedule, rules, live streaming
Celebrity Cricket League 2026: Season 12 of CCL kicks off in Vizag on January 16, 2026 and like last year, the defending champions are the first on field.
File image of Kiccha Sudeep and Thaman
Last Updated: 06.46 PM, Jan 15, 2026
The twelfth season of the Celebrity Cricket League begins on January 16, 2026 in Vizag. This time around, it’s a shorter season, spanning 3 weeks only, with each team playing 3, and not 4, group stage matches. The top 4, based on points and net run rate, then move on to the semi-finals, with the season ending as early as February 1.
Schedule of CCL 2026 matches on January 16 in Vizag
Season 12 has already had multiple venue changes ahead of the start, first with Mysuru being replaced by Madurai for week 2 matches and now, the latter making way for Coimbatore. Vizag and Hyderabad remain. The season opener match, meanwhile, will have defending champions Punjab De Sher in action. They take on last year’s losing semi-finalists Karnataka Bulldozers in the match starting at 2 pm. The second match of the day will have 4-time champions Telugu Warriors up against the Bhojpuri Dabanggs, one of the few teams that is yet to take the trophy home.
| MATCH | TEAM 1 | TEAM 2 | VENUE | TIME |
| 1 | Punjab De Sher | Karnataka Bulldozers | ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Vizag | 2 pm onwards |
| 2 | Telugu Warriors | Bhojpuri Dabanggs | ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Vizag | 6.30 pm onwards |
Last year, in the absence of skipper Sonu Sood, Hardy Sandhu had led Punjab De Sher to their first-ever championship, along with other star players like Babbal Rai, Dakssh Singh, Amit Bhalla, etc. It remains to be seen if Sonu will be in the playing 11 or not. The Bulldozers, meanwhile, continue to be under the leadership of Kiccha Sudeep, with Pradeep Bogadi returning to the side, after missing last season.
The Telugu Warriors will, yet again, be led by Akhil Akkineni, who will, no doubt be aiming to get his team into the top 4, which they missed last year. Akhil did a lot of the heavy lifting last year and will be counting on Ashwin Babu and Thaman to do some major damage. The Dabanggs also had a lacklustre year in 2025, winning only 1 of their 4 group stage matches, much like the Warriors, so this will be a cracker of a match.
Format change for CCL 2026 matches
Interestingly enough, this time, the tournament will be played as a standard T20 match, instead of the test format that they’d been following for a while, wherein each team played 2 innings of 10 overs each and had a chance of turning things over in their second innings. CCL 2026 will have the teams playing 20 overs each at a stretch.
Live telecast of CCL 2026 matches
The streaming partner of the Celebrity Cricket League 2026 is JioHotstar. Catch all the cricketing action featuring your favourite stars on the platform, available via OTTplay Premium as well.
CCL FAQs
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.