The Kolkata Corporate Premier League (KCPL) is back — and this time, it is bigger.
What started as a competitive corporate cricket tournament has now grown into a 10-team league spread across three months, bringing together office professionals, cricket enthusiasts and competitive teams for another season of T20 cricket in Kolkata.
And there is one team that everyone will be watching closely: Kolkata Thunder Strikers(previusoly known as Kolkata Kings), the champions of the inaugural KCPL season.
The Kings lifted the first KCPL title after beating Kolkata Fighters by five wickets in the final at Sodepur Club on January 11, 2026. The final was a proper finish to their campaign, with Kolkata Kings chasing down the Fighters' total in 19.1 overs. Roshan Jha starred with a rapid 88 off 37 balls, including eight sixes and seven fours.
Now, with Season 2 ready to begin, the defending champions have a much bigger challenge ahead.
From Season 1 champions to the team everyone wants to beat
Kolkata Kings' Season 1 campaign gave KCPL its first champion and a memorable final.
Their victory over Kolkata Fighters was not an isolated performance. During the tournament, the Kings also recorded wins over teams including Kolkata Royals, Kolkata Lions and Kolkata Knights United. In one league game against the Lions, the Kings won by 11 runs, while they defeated Knights United by six wickets in another match.
Their Season 1 journey also included a dramatic one-run win over Kolkata Honey Badger in Qualifier 1, before eventually going on to win the trophy.
But KCPL Season 2 is a different proposition.
There are now 10 teams, each carrying a 20-member squad, and the competition has been designed as a proper round-robin league.
That means every team will face every other team.
No easy route.
No shortcuts.
Every match can have an impact on the final league table.
Meet the 10 teams of KCPL Season 2
The Season 2 fixture list introduces a colourful mix of familiar and returning KCPL names:
- Kolkata Thunder Strikers
- Kolkata Predators
- Kolkata Fighters
- Kolkata Indians
- Kolkata Honey Badgers
- Kolkata Knights
- Kolkata Warriors
- Kolkata Titans
- Kolkata Challengers
- Kolkata Lions
With ten teams involved, the league stage is set to produce 45 matches, before the playoffs and final.
The fixture document shows the league beginning on November 21, 2026, with matches continuing through November and December before the final league fixtures in January.
Three months of corporate cricket
KCPL 2 is not a weekend tournament.
It is a three-month cricket journey covering November, December and January.
The opening weekend on November 21 and 22 features six matches at Sodepur, with three games scheduled each day.
The following weekend, November 28 and 29, brings another six league matches at Sodepur.
December then takes the tournament into another gear, with fixtures at both Sodepur and Crichub. The December 5-6 weekend, for example, features six matches at Crichub, while December 12-13 returns to Sodepur.
The league continues through December 19-20 and December 26, before moving into the final stretch in January.
The final league weekend is scheduled for January 9 and 10, with three matches on each day across Crichub and Sodepur.
The road to the KCPL 2 final
The format is simple — but unforgiving.
All ten teams compete in the round-robin league. At the end of the league stage, the top four qualify for the playoffs.
Then comes the knockout phase.
- January 16: Qualifier 1 and Eliminator
- January 17: Qualifier 2
- January 23: The KCPL 2 Final
The fixture schedule has the final pencilled in for January 23 at 6:00 PM at Sodepur.
So, from ten teams to four and finally one champion, KCPL 2 has plenty of cricket packed into its three-month calendar.
Can the Thunder Strikers defend their crown?
That will be one of the biggest storylines of the new season.
Kolkata Thunder Strikers enter KCPL 2 carrying the tag of inaugural champions. But the league has expanded, the format is longer and there are new challenges waiting across 45 league matches.
For the other nine teams, there is an obvious target: knock the Kings(Thunder Strikers) off their throne.
For the Kings(Thunder Strikers), the mission is different — build on Season 1 and become the first team to win KCPL titles in consecutive editions.
And that is what makes KCPL 2 interesting.
It isn't just another corporate cricket tournament anymore.
It is becoming a proper three-month cricket league, with ten teams, 90-player-plus competition, a full round-robin structure, playoffs and a prime-time final.
November 21 can't come soon enough.
Few moments from the auction as it happened
