Lanka Premier League postponed due to unavailability of foreign players

The second season of the Lanka Premier League has been postponed due to the unavailability of foreign players. The Sri Lanka cricket board had earlier announced that the second season of the LPL is going to be played from July 30 to August 22. However, now it has been postponed primarily due to the unavailability of foreign players. The formal announcement in this regard is going to be made by the SLC board in the next few hours.

Three LPL franchises have been terminated from the league

It is known that the unavailability of foreign cricketers is not the only reason for the delay of the league. Several issues with the franchise owners have also led to the postponement of the league. According to the earlier announcement, LPL had terminated contracts with two franchises. This includes Colombo Kings & Dambulla Vikings. In a further development, the league is also set to lose the third franchise.

Reportedly, the Jaffna team has become the third franchise to have faced termination from the league. SLC and the league rights holders – Innovative Production Group FZE (IPG) of Dubai have taken joint action against the Kings and Vikings. The punishments have been allotted out to all three franchises due to reasons of non-compliance.

According to Cricbuzz, the Lanka Premier League organizers are prepared with the new owners. It is known that eight new parties have shown interest to be a part of the Lanka Premier League. Thus, the apt parties will come into the picture once the ICC gives a green signal. The Sri Lanka Cricket board is also anticipated to release a formal statement very soon.

The first season of the LPL was a massive success as the tournament managed to get top foreign players like Andre Russell, Kyle Abbott, Shoaib Malik, and Dale Steyn. It also generated a fair amount of viewership among cricket fans worldwide, with 135 million viewers watching the finals. Now, the postponement of the tournament means it will be tough for SLC to find a suitable window for the season edition this year.

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