Sri Lanka Cricket have confirmed the 2021 Lanka Premier League will be played from 30 July to 22 August. The tournament will start soon after Sri Lanka's limited-overs series against Bangladesh.
It will coincide with The Hundred – the England and Wales Cricket Board's new limited-overs tournament. The LPL, though, will finish before the Caribbean Premier League starts.
“We have found a suitable window to hold this year's edition, whilst we are currently working on finalising the other details of the tournament,” read a brief statement from Sri Lanka Cricket.
“Sri Lanka Cricket will assess the country's situation and discuss with the Ministry of Health closer to the tournament to ascertain the health situation in the country prior to taking a final decision on the competition.”
Perera and Jaffna
This will be the second edition of the Lanka Premier League. The inaugural competition featured five teams. The Jaffna Stallions are the reigning champions after beating the Galle Gladiators in the 2020 final.
All-rounder Thisara Perera is the captain of the Stallions. He recently retired from international cricket with Sri Lanka, but will continue to play for Jaffna.
“I recently spoke to the owner Anandan Arnold. We did extremely well in the last tournament, winning the tournament. And I think we'll continue to do well this year. Based on the discussions we've had, I want to keep playing for Jaffna Stallions,” Perera told ESPNcricinfo.
“I'm still a professional cricketer. There are franchise tournaments, and I haven't stopped that, and I'll play for a while.”
Steyn in the LPL
The tournament has featured several overseas stars, including South African fast bowlers Duanne Olivier and Dale Steyn, West Indies batsman Johnson Charles, Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik and others.
Earlier this year, Steyn suggested playing in the Lanka Premier League and Pakistan Super League is superior to the Indian Premier League.
“When you come to like a PSL or the Lanka Premier League, for that matter, there is an importance on the cricket,” he said.
“Whereas, when I go to something like the IPL that gets forgotten and the main topic is how much money did you go for in this IPL? That's just me being brutally honest.”
