New icon players named for LPL T20 Cricket Tourney-by Dhammika Ratnaweera
Source:Dailynews
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) yesterday named the five local icon players for the second edition of the franchise-based Lanka Premier League (LPL) Twenty20 Cricket Tournament which is set to be played from July 29 to August 22 at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium in Hambantota.
Niroshan Dickwella will represent the Kandy franchise this season as the local icon player. He played for Dambulla last season. Dasun Shanaka of Dambulla franchise is the only local icon player to be retained from last season.
The current T20I and ODI Captain Kusal Janith Perera, who captained the Kandy franchise last season, will play for the Colombo franchise this year.
Wanindu Hasaranga, the Player-of-the-Tournament from the first edition has been elevated as the local icon player for Jaffna franchise.
Danushka Gunathilaka, who represented the Galle franchise, will continue to play for them but this time he has been named as the local icon player.
Overseas Players entering the LPL Player Draft should have represented their respective National Team, or played First-Class cricket, or should have taken part in a major T20 franchise-base cricket in Full Member Board tournaments.
The players overseas should also be recognised by the respective cricketing boards.
The ‘Overseas Player Registration Process’ will be done online via an online registration portal established at the www.srilankacricket.lk from June 21 to 27.
Sri Lankan players will be drawn into the draft based on nominations by the National Selectors.
Players representing the National, Emerging, Development Teams and ‘A’ Team, and also playing in the Major Club Cricket competition, are eligible for selections.
The five teams will consist of a squad of 20 players – 14 local and six overseas players and the teams can retain up to four players (two local and two overseas) from the previous year’s squad whilst the rest will have to be picked from the upcoming Player Draft.
Local icon players: Kusal Janith Perera (Colombo Kings), Niroshan Dickwella (Kandy Tuskers), Dasun Shanaka (Dambulla Vikings) and Wanidu Hasaranga (Jaffna Stallions).
