LPL gets bigger and better

by Rex Clementine

Although Lanka Premier League has been a resounding success heading into its fourth season, the fan participation has been somewhat dented in previous editions due to COVID and the fuel crisis, but the organizers are expecting full houses this time around.

The franchise tournament has benefited Sri Lankan cricket in many ways. While there has been a financial windfall, more importantly, the league has enabled the selectors to identify new talents and the fourth year will see the tournament getting bigger and better.

SLC is set to earn a sum of US$ 2.37 million this year as rights fee alone.

International stars like Babar Azam, David Miller, Matthew Wade and Fakhar Zaman and Lungi Ngidi have already confirmed their participation as this year’s tournament enables franchises to pre-sign a maximum of four players – two overseas signings and two local players.

Players representing the same team for consistency’s sake has also been ensured through three-year contracts although the parties can part ways through mutual understanding.

Most franchises have decided on their pre-signings and the tournament auction is expected to take place in a fortnight’s time.

The tournament will be played from 30th July to 20th August at RPS and Pallekele.

There are two new owners for this year’s event with Softlogic Group that owned the Colombo Stars team pulling out. The Colombo team has been renamed as Colombo Strikers. There is a change of ownership in the Kandy side as well, but that team will continue as Kandy Falcons.

The addition of a sixth team has been mooted for a while now but that has been put on hold for the time being until the next season. There’s also a plan to make LPL a city-based tournament with teams playing home and away games.

The LPL has created a lot of interest among fans so far and this year’s event is set to be a memorable one.

The details of the tournament were announced during a media briefing held at Sinhalese Sports Club yesterday with the participation of SLC Secretary Mohan de Silva, CEO Ashley de Silva, LPL Tournament Director Samantha Dodanwala and Anil Mohan, Founder and CEO of IGP Group.