The upcoming Lanka Premier League (LPL) is just under a month away and the five franchises participating in the league have finalized their squads for this year’s tournament.
Tuesday evening saw several star T20 cricketers from all around the world getting drafted by five franchises namely, Colombo Stars (CS), Dambulla Giants (DG), Galle Gladiators (GC) Jaffna Kings Kandy Warriors.
Some of the major names in the T20 circuit have joined these teams including ten Pakistani players.
Some of the top cricketers like Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir and Chris Gayle are taking a part in the marquee tournament. As many as 10 Pakistani players have also been selected across five teams, including Shoiab Malik, Muhammad Hafeez, Muhammad Amir, and Wahab Riaz.
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The tournament earlier scheduled in the first week of November had been delayed with a fear of the unavailability of international stars, playing T20 World Cup. However, with an agreement from all five participating sides, the drafts for the LPL 2021 have been held last week.
These are the Pakistani stars featuring in LPL 2021:
|
Dambulla Giants |
Colombo Stars | Jaffna Kings | Galle Gladiators |
|
Shoaib Maqsood |
Ahmed Shehzad | Wahab Riaz | Muhammad Hafeez |
| Muhammad Irfan | Shoaib Malik | Muhammad Amir | |
| Usman Shinwari | Sarfaraz Amhmed | ||
| Anwar Ali |
The tournament will commence on December 5 and will stretch till December 23. At least three of the players, including, Shoaib Malik, Muhammad Hafeez and Sarfaraz Ahmed, who were part of Pakistan’s T20 World Cup squad, are likely to miss the second phase of the league due to national commitments. Pakistan is scheduled to host West Indies from December 13 to December 22.
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The competition will be held at two venues, Hambantota and Colombo – each venue hosting one match per day timing between 10 am and 4 pm Sri Lankan time on weekdays or 12 noon – 6 pm during weekends, respectively.
This year’s first tournament was won by Jaffna Stallions (now known as Kings) who defeated Galle Gladiators by 53 runs in an exciting final showdown. After being trailed all game long by their opponents, Stallions came back strongly into play which led them to triumphant over the rival team. Shoaib Malik and Usman Shinwari starred for the winning side.
