# Lanka Premier League

The Lanka Premier League (abbreviated as LPL; Sinhala: ලංකා ප්‍රිමියර් ලීග්, Tamil: லங்கா பிரீமியர் லீக்) is a professional franchise cricket league established in 2020 in Sri Lanka. Matches are played using the Twenty20 cricket format by five teams named after Sri Lankan cities. The league was intended to commence in 2018, but repeatedly postponed by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). The inaugural edition took place in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of 2024, there have been five seasons of the tournament. The current title holder team is Jaffna Kings, who won their fourth title in the 2024 Lanka Premier League by defeating Galle Marvels in the final.

## History

The first season of the league was initially planned to be held from 18 August to 10 September 2018, but this was postponed multiple times due to administrative issues within Sri Lanka Cricket. In June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, SLC announced the tournament would start on 28 August 2020, with 70 overseas players showing an interest in playing in the league. In August 2020, Ravin Wickramaratne, the Vice President of SLC was officially appointed as the director of the tournament. After being rescheduled due to pandemic related restrictions, the first season began on 26 November 2020.
In May 2022, Samantha Dodanwala was officially appointed as the LPL tournament director. The third edition was scheduled to take place in August 2022, but due to the ongoing Sri Lankan economic crisis and the resultant 2022 Sri Lankan protests, was postponed despite the player draft having already been held.

## Teams
### Current teams

| Team | City | Debut | Captain | Head Coach | Owner |
| Colombo Strikers | Colombo, Western Province | 2023 | Thisara Perera | Carl Crowe | SKKY Group |
| Dambulla Sixers | Dambulla, Central Province | 2024 | Mohammad Nabi | Rangana Herath | Sequoia Consultants |
| Galle Marvels | Galle, Southern Province | 2024 | Niroshan Dickwella | Graham Ford | Cricket Marvels LLC |
| Jaffna Kings | Jaffna, Northern Province | 2021 | Charith Asalanka | Avishka Gunawardene | Lyca Mobile |
| Kandy Falcons | Kandy, Central Province | 2022 | Wanindu Hasaranga | Piyal Wijetunge | — |

### Franchise history

| Franchise (Owner) | City | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2024 |
| Colombo | Colombo, Western Province | Colombo Kings (Murfad Mustafa) | Colombo Stars (Softlogic Holdings) | Colombo Stars (Softlogic Holdings) | Colombo Strikers (SKKY Group) | Colombo Strikers (SKKY Group) | Colombo Strikers (SKKY Group) |
| Dambulla | Dambulla, Central Province | Dambulla Viiking (Sachiin Joshi) | Dambulla Giants (Qamar Khan) | Dambulla Aura (Viranjith Thambugala) | Dambulla Aura (Viranjith Thambugala) | Dambulla Sixers (Sequoia Consultants) |
| Galle | Galle, Southern Province | Galle Gladiators (Nadeem Omar) | Galle Gladiators (Nadeem Omar) | Galle Gladiators (Nadeem Omar) | Galle Titans (Nayana Wasalathilake) | Galle Marvels (Cricket Marvels LLC) | Galle Marvels (Cricket Marvels LLC) |
| Jaffna | Jaffna, Northern Province | Jaffna Stallions (Anandan Arnold; Rahul Sood) | Jaffna Kings (Lyca Mobile) | Jaffna Kings (Lyca Mobile) | Jaffna Kings (Lyca Mobile) | Jaffna Kings (Lyca Mobile) | Jaffna Kings (Lyca Mobile) |
| Kandy | Kandy, Central Province | Kandy Tuskers (Sohail Khan; Abbas Muni) | Kandy Warriors (Ravi Gupta, Pankaj Tripathi) | Kandy Falcons (Parvez Khan) | B-Love Kandy (B-Love Network) | Kandy Falcons | Kandy Falcons |

## Organisation
### Player acquisition, squad composition and salaries

In the league's first three seasons, teams chose players using a draft system, having previously had the opportunity to sign a limited number of players directly. For the 2023 season, an auction was introduced. Each franchise was allowed to directly sign two local players and two overseas players ahead of the auction. Each franchise operated with a salary cap of US$1 million, US500,000 of which could be spent on direct signings with the remaining spent in the auction.

### Governing Council

Sri Lanka Cricket, which is responsible for all elements of the tournament, established a governing council to administer the league. Members of the governing council include Sri Lanka Cricket CEO Ashley de Silva. The marketing and organisation rights to the LPL were awarded to an Indian-owned Dubai-based company, Innovative Production Group (IPG), in 2020.

### Finances

The inaugural edition of the league reached a cumulative audience of 557 million through TV, digital-social media and traditional media. According to the 2021 Annual Report of Sri Lanka Cricket, The league generated revenue of LKR334 million in 2020, LKR463 million in 2021, LKR839 million in 2022.
| Franchise | Valuation |
| Jaffna Stallions | US$3.98 million |
| Galle Gladiators | US$3.82 million |
| Dambulla Viiking | US$3.54 million |
| Colombo Kings | US$3.44 million |
| Kandy Tuskers | US$3.19 million |
Source: Newswire.lk, June 2021
Revenue analysis :
| Season | Revenue (LKR mil) | YoY revenue growth | No. of matches | Revenue per match (LKR mil) | YoY revenue per match growth (LKR) | Revenue per match (€ thousands) | YoY revenue per match growth (€) |
| 2020 | 334 | — | 23 | 14.522 | — | 66.788 | — |
| 2021 | 463 | 38.62% | 24 | 19.292 | 32.85% | 85.766 | 28.42% |
| 2022 | 839 | 81.21% | 24 | 34.958 | 81.20% | 90.953 | 6.05% |
| 2023 | 831 | (0.95%) | 24 | 34.625 | (0.95%) | 102.940 | 13.18% |

## Criticism

Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe raised the issue of the need to regulate Lanka Premier League franchise owners and sponsors during the parliamentary adjournment debate on Sri Lanka Cricket's expenditure for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Some of the 2023 Lanka Premier League sponsors included gambling companies and unauthorized foreign exchange trading platforms. Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe claimed that B-Love Network, the owners of the Kandy franchise, is banned in Sri Lanka.

## Seasons

Out of the five franchises that have played in the league, the Jaffna franchise has won three titles, while the Kandy franchise has won only one title. Jaffna Stallions won the inaugural season, defeating Galle Gladiators by 53 runs in the final. The following season, Jaffna Kings beat Galle by 23 runs and in 2022 defeated Colombo Stars by 2 wickets to win their third consecutive title.

### Finals

| Season | Final | Final | Final | Final | Player of the season |
| Season | Winners | Result | Runners-up | Venue | Player of the season |
| 2020 | Jaffna Stallions 188/6 (20 overs) | Jaffna Stallions won by 53 runs Scorecard | Galle Gladiators 135/9 (20 overs) | Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota | Wanindu Hasaranga (Jaffna Stallions) |
| 2021 | Jaffna Kings 201/3 (20 overs) | Jaffna Kings won by 23 runs Scorecard | Galle Gladiators 178/9 (20 overs) | Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota | Avishka Fernando (Jaffna Kings) |
| 2022 | Jaffna Kings 164/8 (19.2 overs) | Jaffna Kings won by 2 wickets Scorecard | Colombo Stars 163/5 (20 overs) | R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo | Sadeera Samarawickrama (Jaffna Kings) |
| 2023 | B-Love Kandy 151/5 (19.5 overs) | B-Love Kandy won by 5 wickets Scorecard | Dambulla Aura 147/4 (20 overs) | R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo | Wanindu Hasaranga (B-Love Kandy) |
| 2024 | Jaffna Kings 185/1 (15.4 overs) | Jaffna Kings won by 9 wickets Scorecard | Galle Marvels 184/6 (20 overs) | R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo | Rilee Rossouw (Jaffna Kings) |

### Team playing records

    As of 17 July 2024
| Teams | Mat | Won | Lost | Tie & W | Tie & L | NR | Win% |
| Colombo franchise | 45 | 21 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 47.78 |
| Dambulla franchise | 45 | 21 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 51.16 |
| Galle franchise | 47 | 17 | 27 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 39.13 |
| Jaffna franchise | 48 | 30 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 63.82 |
| Kandy franchise | 45 | 21 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 47.78 |
Source: CricInfo
Notes:
* Tie & W and Tie & L indicates the matches tied and then won by or lost by super over respectively.

## Team's performance

| Season Franchise | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Colombo franchise | SF | 4th | RU | 5th | 4th |
| Dambulla franchise | SF | 3rd | 5th | RU | 5th |
| Galle franchise | RU | RU | 4th | 3rd | RU |
| Jaffna franchise | C | C | C | 4th | C |
| Kandy franchise | 5th | 5th | 3rd | C | 3rd |

## Records

    As of 4 October 2024
Batting Records :
| Most runs | Avishka Fernando (Jaffna, Dambulla) | 1,544 |
| Highest score | Pathum Nissanka (Jaffna) | 119 vs Kandy Falcons (9 July 2024) |
| Highest partnership | Kusal Mendis & Rilee Rossouw (Jaffna) | 185* vs Galle Marvels (21 July 2024) |
| Most fifties | Avishka Fernando (Jaffna, Dambulla) | 15 |
| Most sixes | Avishka Fernando (Jaffna, Dambulla) | 78 |
| Bowling Records |||
| Most wickets | Wanindu Hasaranga (Jaffna, Kandy) | 72 |
| Best bowling figures | Wanindu Hasaranga (Kandy) | 6/9 vs Jaffna Kings (17 August 2023) |
| Fielding Records |||
| Most dismissals (wicket-keeper) | Niroshan Dickwella (Dambulla, Colombo, Galle) | 30 |
| Most catches (fielder) | Wanindu Hasaranga (Jaffna, Kandy) | 34 |
| Team records |||
| Highest total | Jaffna Kings | 240/4 (20) vs Dambulla Aura (11 December 2022) |
| Lowest total | Dambulla Giants | 69 (14.1) vs Jaffna Kings (13 December 2021) |
* Source: records extracted from ESPNcricinfo

## Broadcasters

| Country | TV Channel | Online Streaming |
| Sri Lanka | Monara TV Star Sports 2 ThePapare TV | Dialog ViU App PEO Mobile App ThePapare.com |
| Australia | Fox Sports | — |
| Bangladesh | T Sports | — |
| India | Star Sports | FanCode |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport NZ | — |
| Pakistan | A Sports | Tapmad |
| South Africa | — | SytxSports.com |
| Rest of the world | — | Monara TV YouTube SLC YouTube |