Sri Lanka has become the latest cricketing nation to announce its own T20 Premier League. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed that the SLC Executive Committee at a meeting held on Monday July 27 granted approval to conduct the inaugural Lanka Premier League T20 Tournament.
The 23 match T20 tournament will be played from August 28 through September 20 and will feature 5 teams named after the cities of Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna.
According to SLC official press release, over 70 international players and 10 top notch coaches have confirmed their availability in the tournament which will also see leading Sri Lanka national players participate.
The matches will be played at 4 venues R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Rangiri Dambulu International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium and Suriyawewa Mahinda Rajapakse International Cricket Stadium.
The schedule for Lanka Premier League will announced after July 30 when the bidding for the Event’s Title Holder closes.
SLC had earlier announced a T20 league in 2018 but it had to be called off due to insufficient interest. Prior to it the Island nation had hosted a Sri Lanka Premier League in 2012, which failed to attract crowd and had to deal with corruption rumours.
Although T20 cricket was first played in England in early 2000’s, it was India that launched a T20 League- Indian Premier League (IPL)- in 2007 after winning the inaugural ICC Men’s T20 World Cup held in South Africa.
The inaugural edition of IPL was played in the summers of 2008 and since then 12 editions have been played, with the latest edition to be held in UAE from September 18 through November.
The success of IPL has inspired many other cricketing nations to launch their own T20 leagues. Currently, Australia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and West Indies have a annual T20 league.
Follow us on facebook for more sports news & updates