A team from Pakistan likely to be added in the inaugural season of Lanka Premier League

Lanka Premier League is a highly anticipated tournament of Sri Lankan Cricket Board. The Island nation is looking to establish a T20 league of its own for a long time. The tournament was expected to kick off earlier this year but has been delayed several times due to the ongoing pandemic.

With almost 30 international players expected to join the exhibition, the league is expected to invite attention and most importantly, revenue. As per a report by Cricket Pakistan, a Pakistani team also is expected to join the upcoming league. The league already has 5 participants.

The tournament will include Dambulla Hawks, Galle Dolphins, Jaffna Cobras, Colombo Lions and Kandy Tuskers. It will feature 23 matches in total, each team is likely to play a minimum of 8 and maximum of 10 games.

The extravaganza is expected to happen in November-December window as a lot of restrictions implied by the government have eased out. The cricket has started again in England and the Indian Premier League is kicking off from September 19th.

Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez in the initial list of icon players

A team from Pakistan might soon be added to the league with its owner rumoured to have a substantial amount of cricketing proficiency. The management had added Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez in the initial list of icon players.

The tournament may also feature some big international names like AB de Villiers, Eoin Morgan, Yuvraj Singh, Sunil Narine, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Matthews, Irfan Pathan, Chris Gayle, Alex Hales, Shane Watson and Shakib Al Hasan. However, the inclusion of Indian players will only subject to the issuance of No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the BCCI.

Notably, the Sri Lankan Board has left no stone unturned to make it one of the popular leagues. The board has granted franchise ownership rights, media broadcasting rights and ground sponsorship rights to a Dubai-based company IPG for five years which were sold at the cost of USD 11 million.

The SLC will earn USD 1.9 million annually for the first two years while a 10 per cent rise will be made for the next three years. The board will be looking after the administration of the grounds and umpires while all other activities would be overseen by the company.