BCCI plans mini-IPL in UAE in place of Champions League Twenty20

The BCCI is unhappy with the lack of interest for the Champions League Twenty20, and has come up with a solution - a mini-IPL in the UAE.

The Champions League Twenty20 has been hit with sponsorship issues and lack of viewer interest since its inception in 2009. 

The new tournament will feature the top four IPL teams that have made the playoffs this year, and will be played in a league format leading to a knockout phase. Therefore, no foreign teams will be involved as in the case of CLT20.

"The planning is on and we will have a meeting on this before this IPL gets over," a BCCI official told The Indian Express.

BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur has reportedly informed the boards of South Africa and Australia - also co-owners in CLT20 - that they will be scrapping the tournament.

"It (CLT20) was not serving any purpose, people weren't attracted to it. We are looking at all possibilities of a substitute tournament to replace CLT20 and the initial idea is to have an IPL-2 so that Indian crowds could relate more to it," the official added to Indian Express.

UAE has been preferred as a venue because it successfully hosted part of the IPL last year. Also, the timing of the new league would coincide with retreating monsoons in India. In the absence of cricket in India during the period, the new league could capture imagination of viewers.