Kolkata: The second edition of Lanka Premier League (LPL) promises to be a bigger and better one with Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh, a former world No.1 ranked allrounder as per ICC rankings, South African national team’s ODI and T20 captain Temba Bavuma, Nicholas Pooran of the West Indies being some of the names who have registered for the Players’ Draft.
Australian allrounders Ben Cutting and James Faulkner, two seasoned pros in franchise cricket, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mahmudullah, Sherfane Rutherford, Ravi Rampaul, David Wiese and Calum Ferguson are few others who have made themselves available in the list released on Friday. Brendan Taylor of Zimbabwe, Sandeep Lamichhane from Nepal and Ali Khan of USA are also in the fray. India’s Yusuf Pathan is also available for selection.
Ravin Wickremaratne, Vice-President of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), said: “Last year’s success has certainly made a difference with more players from many cricket playing countries looking forward to play in the LPL, which is a very good sign for the League and Sri Lanka cricket.”
Anil Mohan, CEO of Innovative Production Group FZE, the official right holders of LPL till 2024, said: “It is an exciting list and I am sure fans can look forward to some scintillating performances from them in this edition of LPL too.”
Meanwhile, the rights holders has decided to terminate the ownership of the franchises of Colombo Kings and Dambulla Viiking for the reason of non-compliance earlier this week.
Some other international players who have registered are:
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Mehdy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Liton Das & Soumya Sarkar
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Ben Dunk & Callum Ferguson
West Indies: Sheldon Cottrell, Rayad Emrit, Ravi Rampaul, Dwayne Smith, Denesh Ramdin, Johnson Charles & Rowman Powell
Pakistan: Haris Sohail, Waqas Maqsood, Muhammed Hasnain, Mohammed Irfan, Shoaib Maqsood, Shan Masood, Anwar Ali & Ammad Butt
South Africa: Rilee Rossouw, David Wiese, Jon Jon Trevor Smuts, Morne Morkel, Rassie Van Der
Dussen, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi & Hardus Viljoen
Afghanistan: Asghar Afghan, Mohammed Shahzad, Najibullah Zadran, Naveen Ul Haq, Usman
Shinwari, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Naveen ul Haq & Qais Ahmad.