LPL 2021: Irfan Pathan, Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi Enter The Player Draft For The Lankan League

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan registered his name in the upcoming Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2021 draft, where a total of 600 players, including 300 overseas players, have registered. Irfan had previously played for Kandy Tuskers.

Along with Irfan, West Indian batsman, Chris Gayle, South African batsman, Faf du Plessis, and former Pakistani all-rounder, Shahid Afridi, are the other notable names in the long list. The draft was supposed to be held on November 5, but the date was postponed to November 9.

The five franchise owners will participate in the virtual player draft, which will be monitored by the Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) officials. However, according to murmurs, the decision to postpone the draft was taken to avoid a clash with the Diwali festival.

Each LPL 2021 squad will consist of 20 players

The squads will be built around 20 players – 14 domestic and six overseas players. With the emergence of talent like Maheesh Theekshana and Pathum Nissanka, the Lankan cricket future looks bright, and it’s up to the board to handle their talents.

There will be 20 rounds in the draft that will cover different player categories like Diamond Player, Icon Player, Local and Overseas Gold Player, and Local and Overseas Classic Player. Moreover, to focus on the youngsters, there will be phases called the ‘Local Emerging’ and ‘Supplementary Local’.

The LPL 2021 season will be held in a span of 18 days, lasting from December 5 – December 23, 2021. Colombo, Galle, Dambulla, Kandy, and Jaffna are the five franchises involved in the league.

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