The ICC Champions Trophy will be played from February 19 in Pakistan and UAE. This ICC tournament is returning after 8 years. It will be played in India in 2029. However, the future of this competition remains uncertain, with speculation that the format may be changed to 20 overs and even rumours that it may go out of existence altogether. 4 reasons why the Champions trophy will be difficult to hold after 2029 1. Popularity of ODIs on the decline
In the last 10 years, T-20 teams and their popularity have reduced the viewership and popularity of One Day matches. In these 10 years, there have been 420 Test matches and 1250 One Day matches, but 2668 T-20 matches have taken place. Meanwhile, during the 10 years from 2005 to 2014, only 412 T-20 matches were played, while One Day matches were 119 more than this decade. There hasn't been much change in the number of Test matches. With the advent of T-20, many smaller teams also started playing cricket. Until 2014, only 20 teams played this format, but in the last 10 years, 105 teams have become part of it. On the other hand, the number of teams playing One Day matches has remained 23 for the last 20 years. This means the development of this format has stalled. The Champions Trophy is held in the 50-over format, so the chances of it being discontinued are also higher. Number of T20I games increased by 647% over 10 year period 2. ICC was about to discontinue the Champions Trophy
After the 2017 Champions Trophy, ICC had planned to start a T-20 Champions Cup instead of the ODI tournament. In this, there would be a tournament like the T-20 World Cup among the top-8 teams. In 2021, no agreement could be reached on the new format, so it was not organized. However, ICC then scheduled the Champions Trophy in the 50-over format for 2025 and 2029. In the T-20 World Cup, the number of teams has increased from 12 to 20, with many smaller teams performing well in this format. Additionally, T-20 cricket will be included in the Olympics from 2028, with only 8 teams participating. In such a scenario, the ICC has not introduced a separate T-20 Champions Cup for the top-8 teams, and the chances of it coming are also low. 3. Difficult to find a window due to T20s
The Indian Premier League (IPL) started in 2008, becoming the world's first ICC authorized franchise tournament. In 2011, Australia launched its franchise tournament, the Big Bash League (BBL). Bangladesh in 2012, West Indies in 2013, and Pakistan in 2016 also started their franchise tournaments. Until 2016, only 4-5 countries organized franchise tournaments, but by 2025, almost every major cricket board had started them. In the last 5 years, even South Africa, UAE, England, Sri Lanka, Canada, Nepal, and America have brought their franchise tournaments, featuring many big international stars. The flood of franchise cricket in 10 to 12 countries has made the cricket schedule busy. Due to this, finding time for ICC tournaments is becoming difficult. It was because of the busy schedule that the Champions Trophy could not be held in 2021. Now, the continuously increasing T-20 cricket could become a major reason for the end of the Champions Trophy. 4. Pressure from Broadcasters
For the boards organizing sports tournaments, TV and online viewers have become more important than the spectators coming to the stadium, as they lead to increased revenue. Broadcasters and sponsors are willing to pay a lot of money. Broadcasters have also found that a T-20 match gets more viewership compared to an entire series of ODIs and Tests. Due to this, T-20 cricket receives more advertisements. Therefore, broadcasters are putting pressure on the ICC and other cricket boards to organize more and more T-20 matches. The plan was made to hold the Champions Trophy in the T-20 format for the same reason, but BCCI refused to change the format. Due to broadcasters, India's matches in the 2024 T-20 World Cup were held during the day. Now broadcasters are saying that if the tournament is held after 2029, it should be made 20-20 overs. If ICC accepts their demand, it is considered difficult for the tournament to be held. Why is the tournament returning after 8 years? Two finals of the WTC, which replaced the Champions Trophy in 2021 and 2023, were played, but the ICC did not earn as much revenue as it did from the Champions Trophy. India and Pakistan only face each other in multi-nation tournaments. Viewers want to watch an India-Pakistan match, and the ICC makes huge earnings from it. The board earns more from the match between the two teams each year than from all the matches of the other teams combined. This revenue is also used to fund associate countries and other activities of the ICC. When and why did the Champions Trophy begin? In 1998, ICC and former BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya started the tournament under the name Knockout Trophy. Smaller countries like Bangladesh and Kenya were initially given hosting rights to generate revenue for cricket there. The popularity of the tournament began to grow, and it was also held in countries like the West Indies, England, India, and South Africa. Winners of the Champions Trophy The tournament was played every 2 years from 1998 to 2006. Since 2009, the tournament started being held every 4 years. This was done because the ICC T20 World Cup also started in 2007, which is held once every 2 years. After 2009, the Champions Trophy was played in 2013 and 2017. Now the tournament will be held in 2029 after 2025. In 2021, the idea to permanently end the Champions Trophy was floated, but ICC included the tournament again in its future schedule. Pakistan will host the tournament in 2025 and India in 2029. After that though, the future of the tournament and its format remain under question.Original Article