T20 World Cup 2026 preparations forces SLC to postpone Lanka Premier League

Sri Lanka Cricket has announced that the 2025 edition of the Lanka Premier League will not take place as per its original schedule. This decision comes with the T20 World Cup 2026 round the corner. Sri Lanka are the co-hosts along with India. The mega tournament is scheduled to be played in February and March next year.

The Lankan cricketing body hinted to enhancing the venues which will host the T20 World Cup matches next year as the reason for the postponement of the ICC. LPL 2025 was originally supposed to be played from December 1 to December 23.

"As per the guidelines of the International Cricket Council (ICC), all host venues for the upcoming 20-team event must be in perfect condition to meet the demands of a major international competition," SLC stated in a media release on Wednesday, October 22.

The focus is now understood to be on upgrading the present infrastructure of the stadiums, building player facilities, upgrading the facilities related to broadcasting and increasing the strength of media centre's amenities to be in sync with global requirements as per the normal standards.

As of now, renovation is going on at the three international venues across the island nation. The rebuilding work at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo is currently paused because of the ongoing Women's World Cup 2025. 11 matches are scheduled to be hosted at the venue. The upgrades are set to get back on track as soon as the tournament concludes.

The last time Sri Lanka played host of an ICC tournament dates all the way back to 2012, also for the T20 World Cup that year. The SLC has made it a point that the decision to not go ahead with the original scheduling of the LPL is a one which is based on strategic motives. This has been done to ensure that the venues are prepared to attract large crowds and be host to cricket's big events.

The board has also decided that thee LPL will get deferred to a more suitable timeframe. The announcement for the league's updated schedule will be made in due course. There have been five previous instalments played. Jaffna Stallions (renamed to Jaffna Kings after the first edition) have emerged victorious four times.