World Champions League involving non-contracted and retired players set to be held in England next year

Karan Agarwal October 7, 2023

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Another cricket league is set to be added to the list of various franchise tournaments played around the globe. World Champions League involving non-contracted and retired players is set to be held in England next year. The players involved in the league will be from India Pakistan South Africa Australia England and West Indies. The official confirmation about the staging of the league is subject to approval from the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The Show Must Go On

The tournament is the brainchild of Mr. Harshit Tomar, Director, Zabawa Entertainment. Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Tomar said: “WCL is set to bring back the India-Pak rivalry of yesteryear stars and bring the greats from England, Australia, South Africa and West Indies. England has always been the home of cricket, and when it comes to Birmingham, it is home to many Indians and Pakistanis as well. We are looking forward to deliver ten days of Cricketainment to Fans Globally”

Added Stuart Cain, Chief Executive at Edgbaston: “We’ve staged some of the biggest games in world cricket and it will be great to see some of the heroes involved in those games back at Edgbaston.

World Champions League 2024 will consist of retired and non contracted players from the 6 powerhouses of world cricket – Eng, Ind, Pak, Aus, Windies and SA replaying some of the game’s greatest rivalries including Ind v Pak, last staged at Edgbaston in 2017 Champions Trophy #wcl pic.twitter.com/MyzpJjFkvv
— Ayushi Shekhawat (@ShekhawatAyushi) October 6, 2023

Approval Awaited

The tournament is set to be played in the summer of 2024, subject to ECB approval and the announcement of the English domestic schedule (November 2023). The bigger group games, semi-finals and final will be played at Edgbaston with some group games at other grounds around Warwickshire.

A tournament with a similar format named Legends League Cricket Masters the second season of which was played in early 2023, organized by Delhi-based Absolute Legends Sports Pvt. Ltd in Qatar with three teams, achieved a valuation of $90.7 million.

“We are the number two cricket league in India by the number of matches and made a big dent on viewers as our format has retired cricketers who still have a few years of cricket left in them, playing. In this season we had India playing Pakistan twice, and whenever that happens, there is a very high viewership,” Raman Raheja, a director of Absolute Sports and chief executive of Legends League Cricket, said.