A global T20 tournament bringing together the champions of the Indian Premier League, Pakistan Super League, Big Bash League, SA20, and The Hundred is set to launch in 2026, as the Champions League T20 (CLT20) gets reimagined as the World Club Championship — a massive moment for franchise cricket.
First reported by The Cricketer, the return of a global inter-league club competition has already received the backing of major cricketing bodies, including the BCCI and ECB, with ICC Chairman Jay Shah also reportedly on board. The tournament aims to bring together the world’s top-performing T20 clubs in a format designed to be bigger, bolder, and more globally inclusive than its predecessor.
IPL vs PSL, The Hundred vs BBL — inter-league showdowns coming
The revamped World Club Championship will feature champion teams from the IPL, PSL, BBL, SA20, and The Hundred — creating blockbuster matchups between the best T20 sides on the planet.
Dream scenarios for fans abound: imagine Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore facing off against Babar Azam’s Peshawar Zalmi, or Shaheen Shah Afridi’s Lahore Qalandars clashing with Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians. These matchups promise to bring national rivalries into the franchise space, delivering India-Pakistan intensity at the club level.
A fresh vision with global reach
The original CLT20, launched in 2009, was discontinued in 2015 due to low viewership and the dominance of IPL teams, with Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings each winning the tournament twice. But the cricketing world has changed significantly since then.
Today, nearly every full ICC member nation operates its own T20 league. Fan engagement is stronger than ever, and commercial interest in franchise cricket has grown exponentially. Even emerging markets like the U.S. now feature serious professional competitions such as Major League Cricket (MLC).
This new era of global franchise cricket makes the 2026 relaunch far more commercially viable and competitively balanced than the CLT20 was.
ECB confirms participation and teases women’s edition
One of the key early decisions around the new competition comes from the ECB, which has announced plans to send the champion team from The Hundred rather than from the Vitality Blast. The Hundred’s growing international profile makes it a logical representative for England in a tournament of this scale.
ECB Chief Executive Richard Gould also confirmed that conversations about the World Club Championship are well underway and hinted that a women’s edition is already being considered.
“That is on the cards. Without a doubt, at some point, there will be a World Club Championship for both men and women. That’s the next logical step,” said Gould, as quoted by multiple sources.
A tournament chasing the Champions League dream
Organizers of the World Club Championship envision it as cricket’s answer to football’s UEFA Champions League — a global, franchise-based competition featuring only title-winning teams. With marquee talent, top-level stakes, and cross-league collisions, the event aims to become a premier showcase for T20 excellence.
Support from the BCCI, ECB, and ICC, combined with the tournament’s potential to draw huge audiences and commercial partners, suggests that the World Club Championship could finally succeed where the CLT20 struggled — by delivering a true world stage for club-level cricket supremacy.
