Inaugural Lanka Premier League auction to be held on June 14

With franchise T20 competitions taking the world by storm, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is all set to conduct the fourth edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL). With the fourth season of the tournament all set to be conducted from July 30 to August 20, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has come forward to announce its decision to hold the first-ever auction of the tournament.

The inaugural player auction of the LPL will be held on June 14 and the proceedings will take place at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo. Furthermore, SLC also revealed that each franchise will bring in US$ 500,000, which totals up to a sum of US$ 2.5 million from all five teams.

The tournament has been quite a success so far, and with the auction, the level of competition will surely be elevated. Furthermore, several reports also state that each franchise can pick a maximum of 24 and a minimum of 20 players for each of their squads with six overseas players allowed in a team.

The direct signings made by the franchises feature some big names. Jaffna Kings boast the likes of David Miller, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Thisara Perera, Maheesh Theekshana, with Colombo Stars having Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Matheesha Pathirana, and Chamika Karunaratne.

Matthew Wade, Lungi Ngidi, Kusal Mendis, and Avishka Fernando are the direct signings of Dambulla Aura, whereas Galle Gladiators have Shakib Al Hasan, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dasun Shanaka, and Bhanuka Rajapaksa. Finally, Kandy Falcons boast the likes of Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fakhar Zaman, Wanindu Hasaranga, and Angelo Mathews.

The LPL 2022 was won by Jaffna Kings when they defeated Colombo Stars in the summit clash of the tournament by two wickets. Avishka Fernando finished the tournament as the highest run-getter in 2022, whereas Carlos Brathwaite was the highest wicket-taker with 18 wickets. 

With the inaugural auction scheduled to be held in June, the level of competition will surely be enhanced when the tournament kicks off on July 30.