The Lanka Premier League (LPL) is set to be rolled out today (19 October) as 5 teams will participate in a players’ draft. The league is scheduled to be played from November 21 to December 13, 2020, at two venues, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy and Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota.
Five franchise teams, Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna, will be participating. Along with all key current international players from Sri Lanka, 75 foreign players will be in the Players Draft.
A total of 438 cricketers will figure in the LPL Player Draft which is due to take place on zoom from 16:00 today. It is open for the five franchises, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and IPG the rights holders. The draft may not include Bangladesh players due to a clash with their domestic calendar.
Amongst the current overseas stars who will figure in the Player Draft are South Africans Vernon Philander and Temba Bavuma; England’s Liam Plunkett; Brendan Taylor, Craig Ervine, Kyle Jarvis, Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza from Zimbabwe; Kevin O’Brien and Boyd Rankin from Ireland; Shai Hope and Jonathan Carter from West Indies; Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Hassan Ali, Ifthikar Ahmed, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Amir, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shoaib Malik, Imad Wasim, Wahab Riaz and Abid Ali from Pakistan and Asghar Afghan, Dawlat Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Hazratullah Zazai, Karim Janat, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari from Afghanistan.
The LPL logo captures the rich culture and heritage of the nation, the free-flowing spirit of the people and the fearless attitude of the Sri Lankan players when they are on the field. The use of red and orange colours in the logo is inspired by the historical Kandyan paintings and Sigiriya Frescos of Sri Lanka whereas the use of blue and yellow depicts the colours of Sri Lanka Cricket. The colours of the lion’s mane represent the five teams that will battle it out in the middle
Sri Lanka Cricket vice-president Ravin Wickramaratne said, “I am extremely happy to see the wonderful fusion of the national colours with the symbol of Sri Lanka cricket in the LPL logo. I am sure this logo will help the fans connect easily with the event and they will come forward to support it with the same passion as their national team.”
John Stephenson
john@cricketinvestor.co.uk
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