2023 Lanka Premier League Explained

2023 Lanka Premier League
Fromdate:30 July
Todate:20 August 2023
Administrator:Sri Lanka Cricket
Cricket Format:Twenty20
Tournament Format:Double round-robin and playoffs
Host:Sri Lanka
Champions:B-Love Kandy
Runner Up:Dambulla Aura
Count:1
Participants:5
Matches:24
Player Of The Series:Wanindu Hasaranga (B-Love Kandy)
Most Runs:Wanindu Hasaranga (B-Love Kandy) (279)
Most Wickets:Wanindu Hasaranga (B-Love Kandy) (19)
Website:Lanka Premier League
Previous Year:2022
Previous Tournament:2022 Lanka Premier League
Next Year:2024
Next Tournament:2024 Lanka Premier League

The 2023 Lanka Premier League also known as Skyfair.news LPL T20, for sponsorship reasons, was the fourth edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), a Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament in Sri Lanka. It began on 30 July and the final was held on 20 August 2023.[1] The tournament was played by five teams in three international venues.[2] The league was organized by the Sri Lanka Cricket.[3] Jaffna Kings were the defending champions.[4] This was the first Lanka Premier League season to feature an auction as the previous editions used to have the draft to choose players.[5]

Due to change of ownership various teams changed names. Kandy Falcons became B-Love Kandy.[6] [7] Galle Gladiators changed to Galle Titans.[8] Colombo Stars were renamed as Colombo Strikers.[9]

On 20 August 2023, B-Love Kandy defeated Dambulla Aura by 5 wickets in the final, to win their maiden LPL title.[10]

Competition format

Each team can include a maximum of six international players in their squad. The five teams will play each other twice in the round-robin stage. Among them, the top four teams will advance to the playoffs.[11]

Teams

TeamCityDebutOwnerCaptainCoach
Colombo StrikersColombo, Western Provincetext-align:center;"2023Sagar KhannaNiroshan DickwellaSimon Helmot
Dambulla AuraDambulla, Central Provincetext-align:center;"2022Viranjith ThambugalaKusal MendisAvishka Gunawardene
Galle TitansGalle, Southern Provincetext-align:center;"2023Nayana WasalathilakaDasun ShanakaChamara Kapugedara
Jaffna KingsJaffna, Northern Provincetext-align:center;"2021Subaskaran AllirajahThisara PereraThilina Kandamby
B-Love KandyKandy, Central Provincetext-align:center;"2023Omar KhanWanindu HasarangaMushtaq Ahmed

Squads

The players' auction was held on 14 June 2023. Prior to the auction, some big-name players signed contracts with the five teams. These players include Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Shakib Al Hasan and David Miller.[12] [13] [14]

Player auction

The auction was held on 14 June 2023, where the five franchises were allowed to spend a maximum of US$500,000 each. The auction was held at Shangri-La Colombo and the likes of Wasim Akram and Angelo Mathews were available during the player auction.[15] [16] Popular Indian cricket commentator Charu Sharma was invited as the chief auctioneer for the auction.[17]

Each team was allowed to have a squad of 20-24 players, inclusive of a mandatory six overseas players and 14-19 domestic players. Any money not spent from the pre-signing kitty cannot be carried over to the auction. The teams also had a right-to-match option for their players, and the money for that had to come from within the auction kitty.[18]

Bidding took place between two teams at any given time, with a third team allowed to join the bidding only once one of the first two teams had withdrawn from the process. An "accelerated" auction process occurred after the first 70 names were presented for bidding. This process saw franchises nominate 15-20 players, including unsold players, who will go under the hammer.

Players were categorised into two groups, capped and uncapped. Each capped player will be able to register themselves under base prices ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 in $10,000 increments. Uncapped players will be classed with a base price of $20,000 - those having played a minimum of 50 first-class matches; $10,000 - a minimum of 25 first-class matches, or a minimum of 18 matches in the LPL or any other equivalent T20 franchise league; and $5000 - those who do not meet any of the criteria mentioned above.[13]

Dilshan Madushanka became the auction's most expensive player to be picked when Jaffna Kings bought him for a record price of $92,000.[19] [20] New Zealand's Chad Bowes became the auction's most expensive overseas player to be picked at $58,000 and it raised eyebrows given Bowes is yet to establish and prove himself at international level.

It was reported that some prominent overseas players including the likes of Rassie van der Dussen were not picked by any of the franchise owners due to the said players being signed up by rival franchise T20 leagues such as Global T20 Canada which are also set to clash with LPL during the same time period.

Venues

R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy were selected as the venues.[21]

ColomboKandy
R. Premadasa StadiumPallekele International Cricket Stadium
Capacity: 35,000Capacity: 35,000

Standings

Fixtures

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Playoffs

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Final

See main article: 2023 Lanka Premier League final.

Statistics

Most runs

Player Team Matches Runs. High score
B-Love Kandy1027964
Babar AzamColombo Strikers8261104
Dinesh ChandimalB love Kandy1025950
Avishka Fernando1024470
Sadeera Samarawickrama1023459

Most wickets

Player Team Matches Wickets Best bowling
Wanindu HasarangaB-Love Kandy10196/9
Nuwan PradeepB-Love Kandy7143/21
Noor AhmadDambulla Aura8123/27
Matheesha Pathirana8123/24
Tabraiz ShamsiGalle Titan9124/20

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lanka Premier League to be played from July 30 to August 20 . 2023-03-28 . ESPNcricinfo . en.
  2. Web site: 2023-03-27 . LPL 2023: SLC confirms LPL to take place in 3 Venues . 2023-03-29 . InsideSport . en-US.
  3. Web site: Sri Lanka Cricket to Hold the 4th Edition of the LPL in July and August . 2023-03-29 . Sri Lanka Cricket . en-US.
  4. Web site: Jaffna Kings champions of LPL 2022 . 2023-03-29 . The Island . en-US.
  5. Web site: Lanka Premier League player auction on June 14 - How will it work? - Breaking News Daily Mirror . 2023-06-15 . www.dailymirror.lk . English.
  6. News: LPL: New Kandy franchise owners announced. Newswire. 9 June 2023.
  7. News: Bollywood Meets LPL, Sanjay Dutt Becomes Owner of B Love Kandy ahead of LPL 2023. Insidesport. 27 May 2024.
  8. News: LPL: New Kandy franchise owners announced. Ada Derana. 18 July 2023.
  9. Web site: New York-based SKKY group takes over LPL Colombo franchise. Ada Derana. 5 May 2023.
  10. News: Mathews ensures Kandy hold their nerve to take LPL title. ESPNCricinfo. 20 August 2023.
  11. Web site: World-Class Cricketers Set Sights on LPL 2023: Sri Lanka's T20 Tournament Sparkles! . 2023-04-26 . Sri Lanka Cricket . en-US.
  12. Web site: 23 May 2023 . LPL attracts top international players in the pre signing . 23 May 2023 . Sri Lanka Cricket.
  13. Web site: Balasuriya . Madushka . 23 May 2023 . LPL Season 4 to have IPL-style auction for the five squads . 23 May 2023 . espncricinfo.
  14. Web site: Witney . Katya . 2023-05-23 . LPL 2023: From Babar Azam To David Miller – List Of Players Pre-Signed By Each Team In Lanka Premier League . 2023-06-15 . Wisden . en-GB.
  15. Web site: LPL inaugural player auction at Shangri La Hotel today Daily FT . 2023-06-15 . www.ft.lk . English.
  16. Web site: Weerasooriya . Sahan . 2023-06-15 . LPL auction brings big dollars for Lankan cricketers . 2023-06-15 . en-US.
  17. Web site: Indian commentator Charu Sharma invited for LPL auction - Breaking News Daily Mirror . 2023-06-15 . www.dailymirror.lk . English.
  18. Web site: Agarwal . Naman . 2023-06-14 . LPL 2023 Auction List: Full Set Of Players Registered For The 2023 Lanka Premier League . 2023-06-15 . Wisden . en-GB.
  19. Web site: LPL auction: Dilshan Madushanka becomes most expensive player . 2023-06-15 . ESPNcricinfo . en.
  20. Web site: Dilshan Madushanka fetches record LPL price of $ 92,000 Daily FT . 2023-06-15 . www.ft.lk . English.
  21. https://srilankacricket.lk/2023/04/world-class-cricketers-set-sights-on-lpl-2023-sri-lankas-t20-tournament-sparkles/ World-Class Cricketers Set Sights on LPL 2023: Sri Lanka’s T20 Tournament Sparkles!