The prize money of the 2009 edition of the Champions Trophy has been increased to $4 million from the near $1 million it was in the previous version in 2006 when it was hosted by India. The tournament was supposed to be held in Pakistan in 2008, but was postponed due to the security situation there and relocated to South Africa.
Johannesburg and Centurion will host all the 15 games to be played in the tournament, thus reducing the player-travel time, and hence fatigue.
There are eight countries which will feature in the tournament, unlike in the 2006 edition when there had been ten. The earlier format had seen the top six countries get a direct entry into the tournament, where as the remaining four, namely, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh having to play out a round-robin qualifying. West Indies and Sri Lanka qualified for the main tournament. Australia is the defending champion, having won the final at Brabourne stadium last time by beating West Indies.
This time around, there are only eight countries playing the tournament, and will be divided into two groups of four teams each. Each group will have its own round-robin league and the top two sides from each group will advance to the semi-finals and the winners of the semis will feature in the finale to be played on the 5th of October.
Group A consists of India, Pakistan, West Indies and defending champions, Australia. The other group has Sri Lanka, England and New Zealand along with the hosts, South Africa.
No comments:
Post a Comment