About CPL
CPL or Caribbean Premier League is a professional T20 cricket tournament played in the Caribbean. This tournament was created in 2013 by Cricket West Indies (CWI) and also it is managed by CWI. It was not created in 2013. It was replaced by a previously held T20 tournament in the Caribbean. We all know how much love people of the Caribbean have in their heart for cricket. That is why this tournament is so popular in the Caribbean. Not only in the Caribbean but also other parts of the world, this professional T20 cricket league is watched and loved by the cricket lovers. Most of the players participating in this tournament are from the West Indies. However players from all around the world play for Caribbean teams. Before this tournament was recreated, it was named the Twenty20 Cricket Tournament. After that, it was named as Hero CPL when it was sponsored by Hero Moto Corp. Not only CPL but also it is known as CPLT20 among cricket lovers.
Foundation, Format & Teams
CPL or Caribbean Premier League is not the first T20 tournament of Caribbean. The first T20 domestic professional cricket tournament held in the Caribbean was the Stanford Cricket Tournament. But after its owner charged for fraud cases in 2009, it was discontinued. After that West Indies Cricket board wanted to fill up the gap created after the discontinuation of the Stanford Cricket Tournament. That is why they created the Caribbean Premier League in 2013. The preparations for the tournament were initiated in 2012. At the end of 2012, West Indies Cricket Board finalized the format of the tournament and signed an agreement with Ajmal Khan, Founder of Verus International Bank for the funding. After that, they organized the first season of this tournament in 2013. There are six teams in this tournament playing in two stages, the group stage and knockout stage.
Sponsors
For the initial seasons of CPL, Caribbean Mobile Network company Digicel was supposed to be the sponsor of the tournament. Digicel is also among the top sponsors of cricket in the West Indies because it also sponsors the national cricket team of West Indies. But later on, the title sponsorship was won by the Courts company. Courts is a major electronic and furniture brand of Caribbean. Other than the official partner of this tournament was El Dorado Rum company. This company was the inaugural partner of the tournament in 2013. The CEO and the whole management team of the CPL claimed that the sponsorship title given to the Courts is one of the best decisions CPL has ever made. Because the marketing and advertising strategies of Courts made it possible for CPL to grow a fanbase in the region.
Prize Pool & Revenue
The total prize money in Caribbean Premier League is more than $2.5 million. However, there are no official details about the prize pool of this tournament. But according to some sports news publishing groups, the total prize money distributed among winning teams, runner up teams and semi-finalists, is around $2.6 million. In this, the champion team gets around $1 million as prize money. While the first runner up team gets around $660,000 as of the prize money. The team at third position gets around $250,000 and around $150,000 is distributed among players as the crash prizes. The player with the longest sixer of the tournament gets a cash prize worth $5000.
Top Teams & Players
The top team of this tournament is Trinbago Knight Riders. They won the champion title four times. The top players of this tournament are Lendi Simmons and Dwayne Bravo. Dwayne Bravo is the highest wicket-taker of this tournament with 106 wickets. While Lendi Simmons is the highest-scoring batsman with 2436 runs.
Winners
In the inaugural season of Caribbean Premier League, Jamaica Tallawahs won the final match. Jamaican team defeated Guyana Amazon Warriors in the final match. If we talk about the recent season held of this tournament then it was won by the Trinbago Knight Riders. Trinbago Knight Riders are one of the most successful teams of this tournament. They won the champion title four times. In the last season, they defeated St Lucia Zouks by 8 wickets. Kieron Pollard was the man of the tournament in the last season.
