Champions League T20 moves to South Africa

MUMBAI: The fourth edition of the Champions League T20 will be hosted by South Africa, CL T20 CEO Sundar Raman said.

The CL T20 will be held in October after the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. The tournament will be played at Cape Town, Johannesburg, Centurion and Durban.

It is believed that Durga Puja and monsoon are being cited as the reasons for shifting as their timings will coincide with the schedule of the tournament.

"South Africa will host CLT20 this year. All other details to follow soon," Raman, who is also a member of the CLT20?s technical committee, posted on his Twitter page.

Meanwhile, seven teams have already qualified for the tournament.

IPL 2012 champions Kolkata Knight Riders will join runners-up Chennai Super Kings and third-placed Delhi Daredevils as India?s three representatives in the tournament.

Big Bash League champions Sydney Sixers and runners-up Perth Scorchers are the two Australian teams that will be a part of CLT20 2012. From South Africa the Nashua Titans and the Highveld Lions, MiWay T20 Challenge champions and runners-up respectively, will turn up for the tournament.

Apart from the above mentioned seven confirmed teams, three more teams will feature in the multi-national T20 league. A qualifying series will precede the main CLT20 tournament and it will include the domestic T20 champions from Sri Lanka, New Zealand, West Indies, Pakistan and England.

This is the second time South Africa will host the tournament. It had first hosted the tournament in 2010. The first and third editions of the tournament were held in India.

The move will not go down well with the IPL franchises who were insisting on keeping the tournament in India.