After the announcement of Lankan Premier League (LPL), Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have taken a u-turn. The apex board has decided to postpone LPL T20 until mid-November.
As per reports, it was supposed to be the country’s first significant tournament since 2012. The competition was set to commence on August 28, and around 70 international players were expected to join the premier domestic T20 tournament.
The decision of postponement has been taken in the context of COVID-19 cases in the country along with the protocols related to compulsory quarantine period. So far, Sri Lanka has registered a total of 2871 coronavirus cases.
Although, as compared to other nations, the figure is not that huge, but the board is worried about the involvement of foreign players which looks challenging at the moment, especially concerning the flying restrictions.
While speaking to NewsWire, the SLC President Shammi Silva, confirmed the news of the league’s adjournment. He said that the international players need to follow the isolation procedures which is supposed to be of at least 14 days and, therefore, it is difficult for them to organise the tournament in the last week of August.
“We had a discussion with the health authorities and the 14 day quarantine period for anyone entering the country is compulsory. So it isn’t easy to play the tournament at the end of August. We will play the tournament in mid-November after IPL,” said Silva.
Earlier, the concept of LPL was being released, which looked quite similar to the Indian Premier League (IPL). In the Lankan league, the five franchises will be given a pool of 130 local players to select the players from, and 30 international cricketers (six each per franchise) along with five coaches will be selected for the tournament every year.
When it comes to the salary, an iconic Sri Lankan player will get a salary cap of USD 60,000, while the other top cricketers would be in the range of USD 50,000 to 40,000. And the rest would fit into the USD 40,000 to 30,000 or USD 20,000 to 10,000 brackets. In the context of international players, they will be in the range of USD 10,000 to 60,000.
