Kannada Chalanachitra Cup is back; Kiccha Sudeep to present 3-day cricket extravaganza

Kannada film fans who also love cricket are in for yet another treat this year. Ending the year in style are namma KFI stars, as they get together for the fourth edition of the Kannada Chalanachitra Cup. Taking to social media a little while ago, Kiccha Sudeep, whose brainchild the tournament is, said that KCC will be held between December 23 and 25 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, promising fans, three days of entertainment and high-quality cricket. The third season of the tournament, which was held in February was only two days, owing to which the six teams did not play each other, which Sudeep was looking at rectifying to make it a level playing field.

KCC 2023 finale: Suresh Raina-Darling Krishna lead Dhananjaya’s Ganga Warriors to victory 

As was the case last time, this edition will also have an auction of players for the team selection, which will be held on November 26. The tournament will have six teams - Ganga Warriors, Rashtrakoota Panthers, Vijayanagara Patriots, Wodeyar Chargers and Hoysala Eagles. The Ganga Warriors, whose non-playing star ambassador is Daali Dhananjaya, and is led by Darling Krishna, won the tournament earlier this year. Each team will have one former international cricket player. Brian Lara, Suresh Raina, Subramaniam Badrinath, Herschelle Gibbs, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chris Gayle, played the last tournament, while Adam Gilchrist has been a part of an earlier edition. Gibbs, Raina and Gayle are expected to be back this time too, with the South African already tweeting in anticipation of being in Bengaluru from December 22 to 25.

Kiccha Sudeep: Shivanna works 363 days out of 365; he’s playing cricket for KCC on the other two 

What was new about the third season was that Sudeep split the T20 game into four innings of 10 overs each, played out in Test style. While this ensured that there was no slowing down in the middle of the innings, fans are not too thrilled about the format and are hoping that each team will play a full 20 over inning. With matches spread over three days, the hope is also that the schedule will be better set, unlike last time, when Pradeep Bogadi’s team ended up playing back-to-back matches, including the final.