Lanka Premier League to kick off on 28 August - SLC

Five teams will compete for the T20 title over 23 games; over 70 international players have confirmed their availability.

A view of the Mahinda Rajapaksa international stadium in Hambantota, one of the venues of the Lankan Premier League.

The inaugural Lanka Premier League, a T20 tournament, will kick off on 28 August, the Sri Lanka Cricket has announced. The SLC gave its approval to the tournament during its executive committee meeting on Monday. Five teams will compete for the title over 23 games.

The tournament will be played at five venues: the R. Premadasa stadium, the Rangiri Dambulu stadium, the Pallekele stadium and the Suriyawewa Mahinda Rajapakse stadium. Five teams named after the cities of Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna will participate in the League.

SLC said over 70 international players and 10 top notch coaches have already confirmed their availability for the tournament along with leading Sri Lankan national players.

In the tournament, each franchise will be allowed to pick a maximum of six foreign players in the squad with only four in the final XI. The SLC will come out with a schedule for the tournament later and said “the bidding for the event’s title holder is due to close on 30th July.”

SLC, which had conceived the league in 2018, was earlier optimistic of conducting the event from 8 to 22 August, pending government’s decision to open the country’s border for foreign arrivals.