The Lanka Premier League 2021 is set to start on December 5 with the final scheduled for December 23.
December 24 has been confirmed as the reserve day for the final by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
The tournament will be held across two venues - R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota. The first match of the new season will be played between last year’s finalists Galle and Jaffna.
"The first round of the tournament, which will consist of 20 games will be played at the RPICS, Colombo before it moves into MRICS, Hambantota to proceed with the final round games," a media release stated.
A total of 24 matches will be played in the tournament which will feature top international as well as domestic players from Sri Lanka.
The Lanka Premier League will also see the introduction of the playoffs format this season. The top two teams in the points table will play in Qualifier 1 where the winner of the match will directly get an entry into the final.
The third and fourth-placed sides will then clash in the Eliminator. In Qualifier 2, the winner of Eliminator will play the loser of Qualifier 1 and the winner of that game will progress to the final.
The upcoming season will be the second edition of the tournament after the inaugural edition was won by Jaffna.
As per reports, around 74 international cricketers have registered for the Lanka Premier League 2021 player draft including Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Imran Tahir, Faf du Plessis, Dawid Malan and Mohammad Amir.
Each team is allowed to have a maximum of 20 players in their squad including six overseas players.
Featured photo: AFP
