Former India cricketers Munaf Patel and Praveen Kumar likely to feature in Lanka Premier League

The inaugural edition of Lanka Premier League (LPL) is all set to be played from November 14 to December 6. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) was planning to organise the tournament before the Indian Premier League (IPL) itself but the availability of foreign players and other few problems led to the T20 league being postponed. Any league with star players featuring in it gets a huge response and LPL is also set to get a huge boost it seems.

Former India cricketers Munaf Patel and Praveen Kumar are expected to take part in the LPL this year according to the reports. The legendary cricketers like Sri Vivian Richards, Brian Lara, Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar are also expected to be associated with the teams as mentors.

The chief of the Innovative Production Group, Anil Mohan confirmed the participation of Munaf and Praveen Kumar on Friday. Also, more big names are likely to be finalised once the IPL gets over on November 10. “Some more will join after IPL. We are given the list (by the SLC) and former Indian fast bowlers Munaf Patel and Praveen Kumar have agreed to play the LPL. Even the Pathan brothers may play,” he was quoted as saying by Pakobserver.net.

Five teams to play in the LPL

Meanwhile, a total of five teams named after the cities of Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna will be fighting out for the glory in the LPL this year. All the matches of the inaugural edition will be played in Dambulla, Kandy and Hambantota.

Meanwhile, though the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) doesn’t allow the Indian cricketers to take part in the foreign leagues, the retired players can become the T20 freelancers. Yuvraj Singh, Manpreet Gony are among few cricketers to feature in the overseas T20 leagues. It will be interesting to see if Irfan Pathan, having retired from the game, decides to travel to Sri Lanka to show his all-round skills.