LPL-4 growing bigger and better as top T20 stars are pre-signed

LPL-4 Tournament Director Samantha Dodanwela (second from left) addressing the media at the SSC pavilion yesterday. LPG founder and CEO Anil Mohan, SLC secretary Mohan de Silva and SLC CEO Ashley de Silva are also present

• “We want to be one of the top most leagues, it will definitely happen in time to come”: Tournament Director

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

The Lanka Premier League (LPL) despised by some and scorned at by others in its formative years is gradually growing bigger and in its fourth year promises to bring on stage some of the top level T20 international stars when the fourth edition takes place from 30 July to 20 August.

One needn’t have to look all that far when you see the names of overseas players pre-signed by the five franchise teams in the league. On top of the list are players in the caliber of Babar Azam, Matthew Wade, David Miller, Shakib Al Hasan, Fakhar Zaman and Tabraiz Shamsi.

“The amount the franchise owners have been given to purchase players is very much more than the last three years, which was $ 350,000 whereas this year it is $ 1,000,000. It clearly shows the confidence that the franchise owners have shown in this league,” said LPL Tournament Director Samantha Dodanwela at a media briefing held at SSC pavilion yesterday.

“We have allowed the owners to pre-sign two overseas players and two local players and given them $ 500,000. Before the auction we allowed them to purchase four players. Already the owners have picked and there are some prominent overseas players who have signed already along with Sri Lankan players. Unlike the last three years, the quality of this tournament will be more this year.”

The pre-signed players brought by the five franchises are:

COLOMBO STRIKERS: Babar Azam, Matheesha Pathirana, Naseem Shah, Chamika Karunaratne

DAMBULLA AURA: Matthew Wade, Kusal Mendis, Lungi Ngidi, Avishka Fernando

GALLE GLADIATORS: Shakib Al Hasan, Dasun Shanaka, Tabraiz Shamsi, Bhanuka Rajapaksa

JAFFNA KINGS: David Miller, Thisara Perera, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Maheesh Theekshana

KANDY FALCONS: Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Wanindu Hasaranga, Fakhar Zaman, Angelo Mathews

“The most significant change this year is that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and Innovative Production Group (IPG) have decided to conduct a player auction against the player draft that was held in the last three years. Sri Lanka is the second country to have a player auction in franchise cricket and we should be proud of it,” said Dodanwela.

500 players already registered

“The tentative dates for the auctions will be 11 June. Another important aspect is the registration portal was opened on 16 May and so far already about 500 plus players have registered. This is once again a very clear indication of the faith that the overseas players and the player managers have kept on this tournament. This league will be the most sought after league in the world very soon. The amount of money we have given to the franchise owners of one million dollars is a substantial amount which is more than other leagues around the world except IPL. We have no intention of comparing ourselves with the IPL because if we try to do that it will be an utter failure for sure. We want to be one of the top leagues and it will definitely happen in time to come.”

IPL group Founder/CEO Anil Mohan said: “Our vision is to make this the best tournament, not as big as the IPL but the no. 1 league in the world. It’s been a great learning curve from the last three years and I am very grateful to SLC who supported me. Any league to be successful has to have support from the cricket board, the owners and the players.

“We are going in the right track right now by getting big players. Players will make this a big thing and the owners, we are looking for good owners we have spoken to IPL teams. They might come in next year or in two years’ time. The whole idea is to make it big and we are trying our best. We have also been talking to some of the top channels as well.”

SLC expected to earn $ 2.37 m from rights fee

SLC secretary Mohan de Silva reiterated: “We had a couple of issues when we started this tournament in 2020. When we went to the market in 2019-20 calling for expressions of interest from various parties to conduct this tournament only IPG came forward and offered us a positive proposal which was bringing us almost $ 1.9 million in the first year. The first year we couldn’t sell tickets because of the Covid restrictions, so IPG suffered huge losses, but nevertheless we continued to go ahead with the tournament and according to our agreement the first two years the rights fee remained at $ 1.9 million and thereafter there is an increase of 11% year-on-year. This year hopefully we are expecting about $ 2.37 million as rights fee.”

“We had three very good editions despite many challenges that confronted us, especially in the first edition. We have come a long way and we are grateful to Anil Mohan who has always supported us and stood by us despite those challenges and various other issues we were confronted with. From those experiences we are planning to enhance and have a bigger tournament to elevate the standard of this tournament this year with an array of international and national players.”

Matches at two venues only

This year the tournament matches will be played at only two venues – Colombo R. Premadasa Stadium and Pallekele Cricket Stadium.

“We have to confine ourselves to two venues because the window we have received this year is slightly shorter than last year. The window was shortened because Pakistan will be here for two Tests of the World Test Championships and then we have to release players for the Caribbean Premier League which will take place from around 16 August. Taking all that into consideration we stuck to five teams. Most probably from next year we will try to add another team,” said Dodanwela. 

“The tournament will commence in Colombo with five matches and move to Pallekele for the second stage which will have eight matches and then return to Colombo for the final round of matches. Except for the first three Jaffna, Galle and Dambulla owners of the other two teams, Colombo Stars has been changed as Colombo Strikers and Kandy will remain as Kandy Falcons.”

“Last year’s final we had a record crowd of almost 23,000 more than at an international game. This year also we plan to give 25% of the tickets free of charge to cricket academies for the boys to come with their parents. Last year when we opened the gates we saw how the crowds came in. It clearly shows they couldn’t attend those matches because of the financial constraints they had.”