AR Rehman usually composes music that captivates the masses but his work for the Champions League will have to be kept in cold-storage for a while.
Even though the Test series against England was salvaged, the future of the other cricket event that was affected by the Mumbai terror attacks remains in doubt. The champions league T20 was already struggling to find a window in a crowded calendar and speculation is rife holding it next year too will be very difficult. A meeting between the promoters of the league, the BCCI; who own 50% stake and co-founders Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa is being held on December 12 to find a way forward but many remain skeptical about whether that can produce any results. "When you have a product like Champions League, there are many teams and many nations involved. So, to try and get a schedule that meets everybody's approval takes time and we need to fix it," said Lalit Modi. Not only is the calendar chock-a-block, there is also talk of whether the tournament will need to be restructured. It was meant to feature champion teams from India, South Africa and Australia besides the champions of England and Pakistan. Australia and South Africa are holding their domestic T20 tournaments in the first couple of months of the new year; so will the new winners mean the previous champions will be discarded? Seeking the answers to all these tricky questions is also the host broadcaster ESPN-STAR Sports who were only willing to say: "As the global commercial partner of the Champions League Twenty20, we remain committed to launch and build this unique property as a marquee event in the international cricket calendar and we will be working very closely with the Champions League Twenty20 administration to develop the way forward." There were already fears that with the economic downturn; ESPN will struggle to find enough sponsorship to justify its near billion dollar investment to buy the rights for the tournament. "At the end of the day it is the quantum of sponsors and in your eyes it might be a 100 per cent sell-out, but we have to keep in mind that ESS and we are here for a long haul. And I think one series is not going to make enough impact," stated Modi. Clearly after the success of the IPL, this has been a harsh wake-up call for the promoters of T20 carnivals. http://cricketnext.in.com/news/future-tense-for-champions-league/36418-13.html -- regards, Vithur
