Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, South Africa big-hitter David Miller, Afghan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman and others are set to play in the 2023 edition of Lanka Premier League (LPL). Azam will be representing Colombo Strikers in the fourth edition of Sri Lanka’s T20 league LPL.
Each of the five franchises have signed icon and platinum-grade players ahead of LPL's Indian Premier League (IPL) style auction. The franchises were allowed to use a maximum of 500,000 US dollars (Rs 4.14 crore approximately) to sign these players. The signed players have a three years’ contract until and unless the franchise and player decided to part ways on mutual consent.
Here is a list of players signed by LPL franchises before the auction
Colombo Strikers - Babar Azam (icon overseas), Matheesha Pathirana (icon domestic), Naseem Shah (platinum overseas), Chamika Karunaratne (platinum local)
Dambulla Aura - Matthew Wade (icon overseas), Kusal Mendis (icon domestic), Lungi Ngidi (platinum overseas), Avishka Fernando (platinum local)
Galle Gladiators - Shakib Al Hasan (icon overseas), Dasun Shanaka (icon domestic), Tabraiz Shamsi (platinum overseas), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (platinum local)
Jaffna Kings - David Miller (icon overseas), Thisara Perera (icon domestic), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (platinum overseas), Maheesh Theekshana (platinum local)
Kandy Falcons - Mujeeb Ur Rahman (icon overseas), Wanindu Hasaranga (icon domestic), Fakhar Zaman (platinum overseas), Angelo Matthews (platinum local)
How LPL auction will work
Last week, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had announced that more than 500 players have signed for LPL auction. The franchises will have remaining purse of 500,000 dollars to make a squad of 14-20 players including mandatory six overseas players. Like IPL, franchises will have a ‘right to match’ (RTM) card.
However, the difference between the bidding process will be that only two franchises are allowed to bid for a player at a particular time. Once one franchise withdraws, only then the other franchise can join. It will also have an accelerated auction after the first 70 names have gone under the hammer. Franchise will then have to choose 15-20 players to fill their squad.
LPL players' base price
The LPL categories are simple - capped and uncapped. The capped players can register at $10,000, $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 and $50,000. Uncapped players who have played a minimum of first-class matches will have a base price of $20,000. Players who have played at least 25 First-Class matches or a minimum of 18 LPL matches (or any other T20 league) will have a base price of $10,000. Players who don't fall in both categories will have a base price of $5,000.
LPL 2023 window
While the schedule of LPL 2023 is yet to be announced, it will be played in July-August window. The first three editions were postponed and took place in December. Two of these editions were postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic.
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