After a take-it-or-leave-it first season, the Celebrity Cricket League promises to be a bigger, better and more colourful affair this time around with superstars from the south, east and the west set to come together for the one-month tournament starting January 12.
The CCL is already estimated to be worth $100 million and prospective owners aren’t shirking from pumping in Rs5 to 6 crore to own a team in the league.
This year the Bengal team is owned by Boney Kapoor and Sridevi and the Malayalam team by director Priyandarshan and superstar Mohanlal.
The CCL has, in fact, proved that star cricket is not non-competitive and insipid and the stars too are taking it seriously and working at their on-field skills.
“In the first season we went unprepared taking it as a friendly match. But we realised soon that the CCL matches were played with a high degree of competitiveness. This time, we are better prepared and equipped,” says Sohail Khan, captain of Bollywood Heroes, setting the tone for a competitive CCL-2.
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Unfortunately avid cricket lover and star Vishnu Manchu has had to sell his stakes in Telugu Warriors to the AMR Group for reportedly Rs5 crore. “Vishnu is a cricket lover but due to some commitments, he divested his ownership.
However, he will be playing for the team,” says a CCL source adding that Venkatesh will lead the team. The selections this time are going to be different.
“It’s split into three categories — four players with four films, four players with two films and another four players with one film — to enable the crowds to connect better,” adds the source.
The pay packets too are double this time and actors will be getting anything between Rs5 lakh to Rs75 lakh, depending upon their star status.
“We intend to rope in a few more reigning stars for the second season,” says the source. Apart from stars, the CCL has loosened its purse strings to add massive glam quotient to the spectacular event and has doled out Rs5 lakh to Rs45 lakh for female brand ambassadors.
“More than money, glamour is essential for our massive event so we have roped in big names like Sonakshi Sinha, Shriya Saran, Charmee, Kaajal Agarwal, Priyamani and 15 others to make it eye-grabbing,” says CCL official Anuj.
After a star-studded curtain raiser on December 19 at Novotel in Hyderabad with the likes of Salman Khan, Bobby Deol, Venkatesh, Shivraj Kumar, the opening ceremony will be held in Sharjah on January 12, with B-town guests like Saif-Kareena, Rithesh-Genelia and others.
“Our franchise has gained popularity across shores and we could include celluloid star teams from Australia, Pakistan and Bangladesh in the forthcoming seasons.
This time too we are propagating the ‘anti-piracy’ slogan to enlighten masses against the menace,” says Vishnu Vardhan, founder of CCL.
After hosting 18 matches including the two semi-finals and the final, the grand gala closing ceremony will be held on February 12 in Hyderabad. “We are holding discussions with international pop stars like Jennifer Lopez and Shakira for a 15-minute live show too,” says a source.
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