Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have decided to stick with only 5 teams for the 2nd edition of Lanka Premier League (LPL), which will be held from 30th July to 22nd August.
SLC previously had the intention of increasing the number of participating teams from five to six by adding another team from Trincomalee. However, Ashley de Silva CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) speaking to Daily FT confirmed that there will only be five teams playing in the upcoming LPL tournament.
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The venue for hosting the event this year is also under discussion, and de Silva stated that they have also thought of an option of playing the event in more than one venue. Last year, all 23 matches of LPL were hosted at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Sooriyawewa.
“With regard to the venue, we are having discussions internally, and we also need to discuss it with our event holder before we decide on it. We will most probably stick to Hambantota, which is one option. We have to take a decision on whether we are going to play the matches at two locations or one. If it is two, it will be at Kandy and Hambantota. If it is one, we will have to take a call on the venue,” de Silva said.
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De Silva is also confident that they can find good overseas players to fill in the five franchise teams, even though many Cricketers are involved in T20 leagues around the world.
“We cannot be shifting it around depending on whether all the overseas players are going to be available or not, we have to go ahead with it. There are so many players playing T20 Cricket around the world, so it is a matter of finding about 25 to 30 players. It is not difficult for us to get 25-30 good players to take part in this tournament. All the local Cricketers will be available,” he said.
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In last year’s edition, 33 overseas players were signed by the five franchises.
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