LPL second edition going ahead despite pandemic 

 Dhananjaya Lakshan

• SLC makes Rs. 200 m profit from first LPL
• The tournament is not all about money but the opportunities it affords young players: CEO

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Ashley de Silva

Despite the country going into a lockdown and the number of COVID-19 victims increasing by the day the second edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) will go ahead as scheduled from 29 July-22 August and like last year, will be held at only one venue in Hambantota.

The first edition was held successfully amid the break out of the pandemic with many overseas players participating and this has encouraged Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) that the second edition too can be conducted under the same strict health guidelines that were adhered to.

“We are playing the LPL from 29 July, the itinerary has been finalised and we have shared it with our event holder IPG (Innovative Production Group). It would be shared with the media by next week,” said SLC CEO Ashley de Silva.

“We will go ahead and follow the same health protocols as last year. We are having a meeting with the Director-General of Health on Monday (today) to discuss the events that will take place. All the bubbles which we have created till now, we have handled it successfully. I don’t think there would be any changes to what we’ve followed last year,” he said.

“We will call for player registrations by Monday (today) and by the first week of July, we will be having the Player Draft. We will open it up so that if the players want to register themselves they can depending on their availability,” continued de Silva. “Last year we decided which category base they should fall into, now we have left it open to them. For instance, if it is a Gold player and if he doesn’t get picked to play in that category, he will not be considered for a lower category. We will be putting the player registration on our website and all the managers of the players will be notified. They will get in touch with the players for they are the ones who nominated the players last year.”

de Silva said there would be a slight change in the tournament format and hinted that having a Qualifier and an Eliminator like in the IPL was under consideration. “The tournament rules have not been finalised yet,” he said.

“The tournament would most probably be played at one venue. We don’t want to take the risk of going from one area to another. We are again looking at playing it in Hambantota. Right now, we feel that we stick to the same number of teams, which is five,” de Silva stated. “When you talk of five teams, there would be about 60 local players who will get an opportunity. If you increase the number of teams it will not be that competitive. All the top players will want to take part and we don’t want to devalue the tournament. We will let it go for another year or two and then we will consider including another team.”

95% money recovered from LPL 1

de Silva said that SLC had recovered 95% of the money that is due to them from IPG from the inaugural tournament and the balance money is expected to be paid along with a certain percentage upfront before the commencement of LPL 2.

“We have put down a clause that the event holder needs to pay a certain percentage of the total amount upfront by a particular date of the tournament. That was an ExCo decision which we have notified them of so they will make the payments accordingly. We have recovered about 95% from last year’s tournament and about 5% has to be recovered. That also they will pay by the end of July which is the deadline we have set for them to settle it,” said de Silva. “We are looking at somewhere around Rs. 200 million profit from the first year. It will increase by another 10% at the end of season two of the LPL.”

Questioned why the LPL is being held in the midst of the current pandemic, de Silva replied: “The most important thing more than the money part of it, is about how beneficial it is to the players. It’s actually the younger players who will get an opportunity to play against international cricketers. That is how through the IPL the Indian teams have been built up. Indian cricket has gone to another level by playing the IPL. Likewise, a lot of young players who will not get an opportunity to play at the international level will get that chance now against all the international players. They can definitely get the exposure and experience from this type of tournament which will help them out when they play for the national team one day.”

“A good example is Dhananjaya Lakshan, who was voted as the Emerging Player of the Tournament, who has made it to the Sri Lanka white-ball team to England. That is one player who showed potential and he has been picked,” he said.

Sri Lanka’s legendary white ball fast-bowler Lasith Malinga believes that Lakshan is a good T20 player who can be more valuable in the 50-over format.

Sharing his views through his YouTube channel, Malinga said that he considers Lakshan the best swing bowler in the country at present and if properly guided, believes he could play the all-rounder’s role that Angelo Mathews did at his peak.    

“The best thing I saw in him is that he is Sri Lanka’s best in-swing bowler at present. He has the natural ability to swing the ball into the right-hander. If you see at the international level, most of the successful bowlers are those who mastered the in-swinger. This player is a good investment done by the selection committee and the SLC, targeting the 2023 World Cup,” said Malinga.