PremiumKarnataka Bulldozers open their CCL account against the Bengal Tigers on February 18
The first match in the new season will begin at 2.30 pm in Raipur. Live telecast is available to stream on Zee5
Last Updated: 02.06 PM, Feb 18, 2023
The Celebrity Cricket League, a much-awaited tournament featuring film stars from eight industries battling it out on the cricket pitch, returns today with a new season. The first match features the Sandalwood team, Karnataka Bulldozers, as they take on the Bengal Tigers. The match begins at 2.30 pm and unlike earlier editions, wherein the teams played T20 games, with each side getting 20 overs, this time around, the rules of the game have changed.
While the teams will still effectively be playing 20 overs each, this has been divided into two spells of 10 overs, whereby a sum total of four innings will play out. But that’s not all. According to the new rules, the top three batsmen opening one innings, cannot play in the same order the second time around. Each innings is not to exceed 50-minute duration, with maximum break between each capped at 5 minutes.
Zee Entertainment holds the broadcast and streaming rights of the Celebrity Cricket League. While nine Zee channels will broadcast the matches in nine different languages, Zee5 is where it will be streamed. The second match of the day is expected to begin at 7 pm and will be between Team Bollywood, the Mumbai Heroes and Team Kollywood, Chennai Rhinos.
The Karnataka Bulldozers, who have won the title twice and emerged runners-up several times, will look at adding another trophy to their cabinet. This time around, Kiccha Sudeep is not leading the side, although he is still on the team as an all-rounder. Pradeep Bogadi has the reins as captain, while CCL veteran J Karthik is the vice captain. Century Star Shivarajkumar in on the team, as is Golden Star Ganesh. This is the first time that Ganesh is playing in the CCL.
The next match for the Bulldozers is on February 26 in Jaipur against the Kerala Strikers. Most of the members of the team are also a part of the Kannada Chalanachitra Cup, which is on February 24 and 25 in Bengaluru, where they will play two days of T10 cricket and then jet off to Jaipur.