Lankan Premier League Gets Green Signal From Health Ministry

Health Ministry of Sri Lanka  & COVID prevention task force has given a green signal to the Lankan Premier League slated to get underway from November 21. The development was confirmed by Sri Lanka Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa who said that the government is focused to adapt to the new normal.

“This is indicatory of the govts commitment to adapt to New Normal & return the country to normalcy whilst adhering to health guidelines” Sports Minister tweeted thanking President and Prime Minister.

Lankan Premier League To Be Held At Pallekele, Hambantota

The Lankan Premier League (LPL) 2020 is slated to get underway from November 21 to December 13, 2020. All the 23 matches in the tournament will be held at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy and Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota, according to an official media release.

The Pallekele International Cricket Stadium which has hosted 7 Tests, 26 ODIs and 23 T20 Internationals has a spectator capacity of 35,000. The Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, also with a spectator capacity of 35,000, has hosted 21 ODIs and 7 T20 Internationals.

The last T20 match played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium was between West Indies and Sri Lanka on March 6, 2020 where the visitors triumphed by seven wickets in the D/N encounter.

 In the Lanka Premier League, five franchisee teams, named after Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna, will compete in 23 matches over a 15-day period for the title.

“LPL gives us an opportunity to provide the cricket-loving nation a T20 extravaganza to look forward to. Sri Lankan cricket fans are extremely passionate about the game, and it gives me tremendous joy and happiness that IPG got the mandate to conduct the League here.

The Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) board too has been extremely helpful and I look forward for their unending co-operation and support to make this League a grand success. We are committed to create a world class league with LPL,” said Mr Anil Mohan, CEO of LPG.

As of now, each of India, Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the West Indies and South Africa have their own versions of franchise leagues.