2nd edition of the LPL set to start on 30 July

The second edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) will take place later this year from 30 July to 22 August, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has confirmed.

“We have found a suitable window to hold this year’s edition, whilst we are currently working on finalising the other details of the tournament,” said SLC Management Committee Chairman Professor Arjuna de Silva in a media release.

The Jaffna Stallions came out victors in the inaugural LPL held in November last year. The success of the tournament, amongst the first major sporting events to be organised following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, was a much-needed boon for a country that had been starved of cricket for nearly a year. All the matches were held at the MRICS in Hambantota, with five teams with regional monikers taking part, under a successful bio-bubble environment. 

At the time however, the country’s COVID crisis was not quite as dire as it is now. Managing such a bubble proved impossible for the Indian Premier League (IPL), which was postponed recently after a spate of positive cases amongst players. SLC will hold discussions with health authorities before moving forward.

“Sri Lanka Cricket will assess the country’s situation and discuss with the Ministry of Health closer to the tournament to ascertain the health situation in the country prior to taking a final decision on the competition,” concluded the release.