Kusal Perera, Angelo Mathews, and Dhananjaya de Silva are among the high profile names to miss out on selection in the Lanka Premier League draft, with several other players who were in the extended Sri Lanka World Cup squad also not picked.
Perera had been a late addition to the draft thanks to a miscommunication between Sri Lanka Cricket and his club, which was supposed to have nominated him, but he appeared in the draft nonetheless. Mathews, who had been the Colombo franchise's icon player last year, was also available to be selected. Dhananjaya had been among the senior players in the Jaffna Stallions side that won last year's LPL.
Other players not selected include wicketkeeper-batters Minod Bhanuka and Dinesh Chandimal, spinners Akila Dananjaya and Praveen Jayawickrama, and top order batter Sadeera Samarawickrama. Each of these cricketers had played T20 internationals for Sri Lanka in the last few months.
Despite the unusual omissions, the LPL has got several well-known overseas players on board. Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis, Tabraiz Shamsi, Imran Tahir, Najibullah Zadran, Taskin Ahmed, and Mohammad Hafeez, have all been named in various squads. How many of these players actually appear in the tournament remains to be seen, however; there had been late withdrawals ahead of the 2020 LPL. Both the Jaffna and Galle franchises retained many of their core players from the previous season - those teams having appeared in the final.
Although the first season of the LPL was largely seen as a success, at least three of the five franchises that appeared in the first season have changed ownership, and only Galle Gladiators have retained their name. When the owners of Jaffna Stallions - 2020's winning team - were formally ousted by tournament organisers last month, Stallions' owners claimed they had been blindsided, and that the league lacked transparency.
The LPL is scheduled to be played from December 4 to 23. The first rounds will be played in Colombo, before the action moves to Sooriyawewa (Hambantota).
Colombo Stars: Chris Gayle, Dushmantha Chameera, Ahmed Shehzad, Dilshan Munaweera, Mohammad Irfan, Al Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Pathum Nissanka, Lakshan Sandakan, Seekkuge Prasanna, Manpreet Singh, Gihan Rupasinghe, Lahiru Gamage, TM Sampath, Nuwanidu Fernando, Jehan Daniel, Malindu Maduranga, Nalin Priyadarshana, Dumindu Ranasinghe, Kanagarathnam Kabilraj
Dambulla Giants: Imran Tahir, Dasun Shanaka, Rilee Russouw, Chamika Karunaratne, Sohaib Maqsood, Odean Smith, Josh Little, Niroshan Dickwella, Nuwan Pradeep, Ramesh Mendis, Najibullah Zadran, Tharindu Ratnayake, Lahiru Udara, Sacha de Alwis, Muditha Lakshan, Kalana Perera, Sachitha Jayathilaka, Ravichandrakumara, Janith Liyanage, Chamikara Edirisinghe,
Galle Gladiators: Mohammad Hafeez, Isuru Udana, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kusal Mendis, Mohammad Amir, Samit Patel, Sarfraz Ahmed, Danushka Gunathilaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Anwar Ali, Pulina Tharanga, Nuwan Thushara, Lahiru Madushanka, Dlishan Madushanka, Ashan Daniel, Kevin Koththigoda, Mohommed Shamaaz, Suminda Lakshan, Angelo Jayasinghe
Jaffna Kings: Faf du Plessis, Thisara Perera, Wahab Riaz, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shoaib Malik, Usman Shinwari, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Avishka Fernando, Upul Tharanga, Chaturanga de Silva, Jayden Seales, Suranga Lakmal, Ashen Bandara, Maheesh Theekshana, Chanika Gunasekara, Vijaykanth Viyaskanth, Theivendran Dinoshan, Ashan Randika, Rathnaraja Thanuradan, Krishan Sanjula
Kandy Warriors: Rovman Powell, Charith Asalanka, Cameron Delport, Lahiru Kumara, Mohammad Mithun, Nazmul Islam, Mehedi Hasan Rana, Angelo Perera, Asela Gunaratne, Milinda Siriwardana, Amjad Khan, Ishan Jayarathne, Binura Fernando, Kamindu Mendis, Ayana Siriwardana, Kamil Mishara, Nimesh Vimukthi, Udara Jayasundara, Shashika Dulshan, Kalhaa Senarathna