# Celebrity Cricket League

The Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) is an exhibition men's cricket league in India. It consists of eight teams of film actors from different film industries of Indian cinema. The league commenced in 2011. Salman Khan is the brand ambassador for Celebrity Cricket League from 2011 for all seasons. The CCL teams use various venues for their home games and it has a vast coverage in Indian media.

## Establishment

The popularity of the Indian Premier League inspired the CCL, with franchises in major Indian cities. Vishnu Vardhan Induri, an entrepreneur from Hyderabad, is the founder and managing director of CCL. He started the league in 2010 by selling franchise rights for four teams in the inaugural season. For the second season, two additional teams were added.
In January 2024, With South Indian International Media Awards (SIIMA) completing 12 years and Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) gearing up for its 10th season, the founder of SIIMA and CCL Vishnu Vardhan Induri joins forces with Alankar Pandian of Invenio Origin, a media investment fund based out of Singapore and Dubai to launch a New Pan India Media IP called Indian National Cine Academy (INCA) along with scaling up SIIMA and CCL.

## History
### First season

The inaugural season took place in 2011 and included participation from ariyumo four teams - Chennai Rhinos, Telugu Warriors, Mumbai Heroes, and Karnataka Bulldozers. With CCL season 1, the organizers planned to create awareness about anti-piracy. Chennai Rhinos defeated Karnataka Bulldozers in a competitive final and emerged as the inaugural CCL champions.

### Second season

The second season was conducted from 13 January to 13 February 2012. Two new cricket teams, the Kerala Strikers and the Bengal Tigers were added to the CCL. Hindi film industry Team "Mumbai Heroes" selected Sharjah as its home ground. Chennai Rhinos defeated Karnataka Bulldozers for the second time in a row and emerged as the CCL 2 champions.

### Third season

The third season had two new teams, Veer Marathi representing the Marathi film industry and Bhojpuri Dabbangs representing the Bhojpuri film industry. In Season 3, the curtain raiser event was held in Mumbai on 19 January 2013 and was regarded by many as a grand affair, where Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu, Prabhu Deva and many other celebrities performed. The opening ceremony was in Kochi on 9 February 2013, where Kerala Strikers played against Mumbai Heroes. Bollywood actor Bipasha Basu was appointed as the brand ambassador for Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) season 3, along with Kajal Aggarwal. Karnataka Bulldozers defeated Telugu Warriors to become CCL 3 champions.

### Fourth season

CCL Season 4 had a bigger reach than the earlier seasons as Colors TV had come in as a broadcast partner for the Mumbai Heroes games and Rishtey TV telecasted all the games. Karnataka Bulldozers qualified for the finals for the fourth consecutive year. They won the cup by defeating Kerala Strikers.

### Fifth season

CCL season 5 was the most successful season in terms of revenues and television viewership. As per TAM, CCL was the second most viewed sporting league in the country due to its reach delivered through Colors in Hindi-speaking markets and Sun Network Channels in South India. Telugu Warriors won the trophy for the first time by defeating 2-time champion Chennai Rhinos.

### Sixth season

A new team, Punjab De Sher, representing the Punjab film industry, was introduced in place of Veer Marathi. Daler Mehndi was the brand ambassador of the team, with Sonu Sood the captain. Mr. Puneet and Navraj Hans were the owners of the team. Punjab De Sher selected new players for the team. Telugu Warriors won the cup for the second time.

### Tenth season

In CCL Season 10, the first schedule took place at the UAE's Sharjah Stadium, with an introduction ceremony held near the Burj Khalifa. Five teams displayed extraordinary all-round performances, winning three out of four matches each. However, Telugu Warriors lagged behind due to their net run rate, while Karnataka, Mumbai, Bengal, and Chennai advanced to the semifinals. In the finals, Karnataka and Bengal faced off, with Bengal emerging as the new champions of the season.

### Eleventh season

Only seven teams participated as Kerala did not take part. Defending champions Bengal continued their dominant form, winning all four of their league matches. Bengaluru maintained their usual standard with three wins, while Punjab reached the semifinals for the first time. Chennai, initially planning to withdraw due to financial reasons, stayed in the tournament following Sudeep's request and made it to the finals. In the final match, Punjab defeated Chennai, securing the championship after 11 years.

## Teams and performance
### Current teams

| Team | Industry | State | Captain | Debut | Ownership |
| Telugu Warriors | Telugu/Tollywood | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana | Akkineni Akhil | 2011 | Venkatesh Daggubati, Sachin Joshi |
| Mumbai Heroes | Hindi/Bollywood | Maharashtra | Riteish Deshmukh | 2011 | Sohail Khan |
| Bengal Tigers | Bengali/Tollywood | West Bengal | Jisshu Sengupta | 2012 | Boney Kapoor, Raj Shah |
| Bhojpuri Dabbangs | Bhojpuri/Bhojiwood | Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand | Manoj Tiwari | 2013 | Sushil Sharma · Kanishk Sheel · Rahul Mishra · Sushil Malik |
| Chennai Rhinos | Tamil/Kollywood | Tamil Nadu | Arya | 2011 | K. Ganga Prasad |
| Karnataka Bulldozers | Kannada/Sandalwood | Karnataka | Sudeep | 2011 | Ashok Kheny |
| Kerala Strikers | Malayalam/Mollywood | Kerala | Indrajith Sukumaran | 2012 | Mohanlal, Rajkumar, Sripriya, Shaji, Jaison, Mibu Jose Nettikaden |
| Punjab De Sher | Punjabi/Pollywood | Punjab | Sonu Sood | 2016 | Navraj Hans, Puneet Singh |

### Defunct team

| Team | Industry | State | Captain | Debut | Ownership |
| Veer Marathi | Marathi | Maharashtra | Mahesh Manjrekar | 2013 | Riteish Deshmukh |

### Total performance

| Sns.Tms. | 2011 (4) | 2012 (6) | 2013 (8) | 2014 (8) | 2015 (8) | 2016 (8) | 2017 (6) | 2019 (6) | 2023 (8) | 2024 (8) | 2025 (7) |
| Bengal Tigers | | GS | GS | GS | GS | SF | GS | SF | GS | W | SF |
| Bhojpuri Dabbangs | | | GS | SF | GS | SF | | SF | R | GS | GS |
| Chennai Rhinos | W | W | GS | GS | R | GS | GS | | GS | SF | R |
| Karnataka Bulldozers | R | R | W | W | SF | R | GS | R | SF | R | SF |
| Kerala Strikers | | GS | SF | R | GS | GS | R | | GS | GS | |
| Mumbai Heroes | GS | SF | GS | SF | SF | GS | GS | W | SF | SF | GS |
| Punjab De Sher | | | | | | GS | | GS | GS | GS | W |
| Telugu Warriors | GS | SF | R | GS | W | W | W | GS | W | GS | GS |
| Veer Marathi | | | SF | GS | GS | | | | | | |
Notes:
* W = Winner; R = Runner-up; SF = SemiFinalist; GS = GroupStage
* 2018 CCL T10 was cancelled
* 2019 CCL T10 Semi-final and final matches were not conducted due to rain. Based on group stage performance Mumbai Heroes (win all 3 matches) and Karnataka Bulldozers (win 2 out of 3 matches) teams announced as Winner and Runner up respectively.
| | Appearances | Playoffs | Titles | Matches | Won | Lost | NR |
| Bengal Tigers | 10 | 4 | 1 | 41 | 14 | 24 | 3 |
| Bhojpuri Dabbangs | 8 | 4 | 0 | 33 | 14 | 16 | 3 |
| Chennai Rhinos | 10 | 5 | 2 | 43 | 19 | 21 | 3 |
| Karnataka Bulldozers | 11 | 10 | 2 | 53 | 34 | 16 | 3 |
| Kerala Strikers | 8 | 3 | 0 | 32 | 15 | 16 | 1 |
| Mumbai Heroes | 11 | 6 | 1 | 45 | 18 | 24 | 3 |
| Punjab De Sher | 5 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 5 | 13 | 1 |
| Telugu Warriors | 11 | 6 | 4 | 48 | 32 | 15 | 1 |
| Veer Marathi | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 |

### Best performance

| Team | Appearances | Appearances | Appearances | Best result |
| Team | Total | First | Latest | Best result |
| Telugu Warriors | 11 | 2011 | 2025 | Champions (2015, 2016, 2017, 2023) |
| Karnataka Bulldozers | 11 | 2011 | 2025 | Champions (2013, 2014) |
| Chennai Rhinos | 10 | 2011 | 2025 | Champions (2011, 2012) |
| Mumbai Heroes | 11 | 2011 | 2025 | Champions (2019) |
| Bengal Tigers | 10 | 2012 | 2025 | Champions (2024) |
| Punjab De Sher | 5 | 2016 | 2025 | Champions (2025) |
| Kerala Strikers | 8 | 2012 | 2024 | Runners-up (2014, 2017) |
| Bhojpuri Dabbangs | 8 | 2013 | 2025 | Runners-up (2023) |
| Veer Marathi | 3 | 2013 | 2015 | Semi-finals (2013) |

### Squads

| Mumbai Heroes | Bengal Tigers | Karnataka Bulldozers | Chennai Rhinos | Telugu Warriors | Kerala Strikers | Bhojpuri Dabang | Punjab De Sher | Veer Marathi (Defunct team) |
| Riteish Deshmukh (captain) Sohail Khan Salman Khan Bobby Deol Sunil Shetty Varun Badola Aftab Shivdasani Sameer Kochhar Indraneil Sengupta Apoorva Lakhia Kabir Sadanand Kunal Khemu Raja Bherwani Shabbir Ahluwalia Sharad Kelkar Saqib Saleem Tushar Jalota Vatsal Seth Sahil Chaudhary Mudasir Zafar Former players: Sonu Sood | Jisshu (captain) Joy Rahul Bonny Sourav (Wk) Jammy Ratnadeep Yousuf Ananda Mukul Satadeep Uday Aditya Sougata Joey Anirrban Head Coach: Saradindu Mukherjee Former players: Prosenjit Chatterjee (Former Mentor) Jeet (Former captain) Dev Indrasish Amitabh Bhattacharjee Rahul Banerjee Gourav Chakraborty Indraneil Sengupta Jeetu Sumon Sandy Manty Vinayak Raja Indrajit Debraj Sidd Abhi Tabun Rubin Heerok Koushik Arman Debu Mohan | Sudeep (captain) Pradeep Shiva Rajkumar Yash Ganesh Krishna Tarun Chandra Jai Karthik Bhuvan Chandra Sunil Raoh Chandan Kumar Nirup Bhandari Tarun Sudhir Nanda Kishore Prathap Narayanan Trivikram Arjun Yogesh Raj Prasanna Abhimanyu Bhaskar Rahul Rajeev Hanu Karan Aryan Arun Bachchan Dharma Saurav Viswas Darshan Former players: Dhruv Sarja Chiranjeevi Sarja | Vikranth (captain) Shanthanu Prithvi Rajan Kalaiyarasan Bharath Ramana Aadhav Dasarathan Sharran Ajay Rohan Pari Sathya NJ R. K. Suresh Saravana Vel Rishikanth Sivaraman Former players: Arya Vishnu Vishal Abbas Jiiva Hamsavardhan Shiva Jayam Ravi Jithan Ramesh Karthik Kumar Madhavan Ashok Selvan Nithin Sathya Prem Rishikanth Sarathkumar Sri Balaji Srikanth Sundar Ramu Suriya Vishal Shaam Bose Venkat Mahendran Hemachandran Nandha Bala Saravanan Sanjay Bharathi Uday Kumar | Akhil Akkineni (captain) Aadi Saikumar Ashwin Babu Aadarsh Balakrishna Nikhil Siddhartha Prince Cecil Roshan Meka Sachin Joshi Sudheer Babu Thaman S Sushanth Khayyum Nandakishore Raghu Samrat Reddy Harish Samba Former players: Venkatesh Tarun Srikanth Ajay Nithiin Konidela Ram Charan Rajeev Kanakala Siddharth Sai Dharam Tej Taraka Ratna Ayyappa Sharma Prabhu Viswa | Indrajith (Captain) Asif Ali Rajeev Pillai Vivek Gopan Unni Mukundan Siju Wilson Manikuttan Vijay Yesudas Saiju Kurup Vinu Mohan Arjun Nandhakumar Siddharth Menon Prajod Kalabhavan Shafique Rehman Nikhil K Menon Jean Paul Lal Sanju Sivram Prasanth Alexander Former players: Mohanlal Nivin Pauly Bala Riyaz Khan Arun Benny Bineesh Kodiyeri Rahul Madhav Sukesh Kuttan Rakendhu Madan Mohan Munna Simon Rejith Menon | Manoj Tiwari (Captain) Dinesh Lal Yadav (Vice Captain) Ravi Kishan Pravesh Lal Yadav Uday Tiwari Rahul Singh Ajhoy Sharma Prakash Jais Ayaz Khan Sushil Singh Abhay Sinha Khesari Lal Yadav Jay Yadav Ravi Yadav Surya Dwivedi Vikash Singh Pawan Singh Santosh Singh Ajay Srivastav Vikrant Singh Rajpoot Anil Samrat | Sonu Sood (Captain) Mika Singh Jimmy Shergill Ayushmann Khurana Binnu Dhillon Manvir Sran Rahul Dev Navraj Hans Jazzy B Harmeet Singh Piyush Malhotra Gulzar Chahal Roshan Prince Amrinder Gill Angad Bedi Yuvraj Hans Raju Sharma Dilraj Khurana Arjun Madan | Mahesh Manjrekar (Captain) Makrand Deshpande Siddarth Jadhav Sanjay Narvekar Upendra Limaye Pushkar Jog Rajesh Shringarpure Ankush Chaudhari Maadhav Deochake Siddharth Chandekar Aniket Vishwasrao Sameer Dharmadhikari Manoje Biddvai Ajit Parab Nupur Dhudwadkar Rahul Gore Siddhant Mooley Rahul Sugandh Raiees Lashkaria Vijay Kenkre |

## Venues

* Ahmedabad: Sardar Patel Stadium
* Bengaluru: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium
* Chennai: M. A. Chidambaram Stadium
* Kochi: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
* Hyderabad: Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium
* Hyderabad: Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium
* Mumbai : Brabourne Stadium
* Mumbai : DY Patil Stadium
* Pune: Maharashtra Cricket Association Cricket Stadium
* Dubai: Dubai International Cricket Stadium
* Sharjah: Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium
* Siliguri: Kanchenjunga Stadium
* Trivandrum: Greenfield International Stadium
* Visakhapatnam: Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy International Cricket Stadium
* Cuttack : Barabati Stadium
* Ranchi : JSCA International Stadium Complex
* Chandigarh : Sector 16 Stadium
* Raipur : Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium
* Mohali : Inderjit Singh Bindra Stadium
* Delhi : Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium
* Surat : Lalbhai Contractor Stadium