The 5th edition of the Lanka Premier League 2024 has garnered interest from over 500 players from top cricketing nations.
Players from 24 cricket-playing nations, encompassing all the ICC full member nations, have enlisted for the upcoming player auction, vying for selection into one of the five teams.
Key players in contention include Tamim Iqbal, Tim Southee, Rassie Van Der Dussen, Jimmy Neesham, Mushfiqur Rahim, Reeza Hendricks, Rilee Rossouw, Shai Hope, Taskin Ahmed, Lungi Ngidi, Naseem Shah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Colin Munro, Ish Sodhi, Mark Chapman, Jason Behrendorff, Andre Fletcher, Oshane Thomas, Keemo Paul, and Fabian Allen.
Additionally, prominent stars such as Usman Khawaja, Tabraiz Shamsi, Evin Lewis, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Reece Topley, Iftikhar Ahmad, Mohammad Nawaz, Gulbadin Naib, and Ibrahim Zadran are also among the sought-after players.
The auction date will be announced in due course.
It must be noted that the 2024 LPL will be played in three venues - Colombo, Dambulla, and Kandy.
The 2024 LPL will kick off on July 01, 2024, with the final scheduled for July 21.
The 2024 season will again feature five teams, as it has from its inception. There will be 24 matches in all. The teams will play each other twice in the league stage, which will consist of 20 matches.
There will then be a qualifier, an eliminator and a second eliminator, and the final - the same as with the IPL. Four of the five teams qualify for the playoffs, as they have done for the last three seasons.
The tournament will clash with Major League Cricket and the T20 Blast. The second season of MLC starts on July 4 and the final likely on July 28, while the T20 Blast will run from May 30 to September 14.
There was a similar overlap last year as well, which meant the LPL struggled to attract foreign talent, given the money on offer. But it has nevertheless enjoyed some popularity among local fans.
The first three editions were won by teams bearing the Jaffna name (Stallions in the first season, Kings in seasons two and three), all captained by Thisara Perera. In 2023, B-Love Kandy, led by Wanindu Hasaranga (except for the final when he was injured), were victorious.