Lanka Premier League 2020: Player Changes and Surprising Flight Miss

With Bio-bubble Cricket gaining more trust after a handful of big tournaments have been conducted, the cricketing world is gearing up for more matches.

There are several international games with India vs. Australia and South Africa vs. England among the few.

Along with international cricket, the Lanka Premier League is set to begin soon.

The Lanka Premier League is a five-team tournament with 23 games.

The league stage consists of twenty games.

The top four will go on to play in the semi-finals while the final is likely to take place on December 16th.

The tournament is expected to start on November 26th, with players joining their bubbles and going through quarantine.

There have been some high-profile signings before the tournament, along with some stars pulling out.

Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, and Manpreet Gony are among the Indians who have signed up for the Lanka Premier League.

The tournament will be Pathan’s first cricketing assignment since February 19th.

South African star, Dale Steyn, has also recently confirmed his signing and will be playing for the Kandy Tuskers.

Dale Steyn didn’t have a great time in the IPL and will be hoping to bounce back and stake a claim for the T20 world cup coming up.

Chris Gayle and Lasith Malinga have pulled out of this season of the Lanka Premier League.

Chris Gayle is out due to an injury.

Lasith Malinga has not played since March and opted out due to lack of preparation.

Ravi Bopara is another player who has signed up and later opted out of the tournament.

He has recently turned up in the Pakistan Super League but has confirmed his unavailability in the LPL.

Andre Russel has recently arrived for the tournament, and his presence ensures the game has at least one global star.

Sohail Tanvir, a member of Kandy Tuskers, has tested positive for covid-19 after arriving in Sri Lanka.

He has recently played in the PSL but is now in isolation after testing positive.

Along with Tanvir, Ravinderpal Singh of Canada has tested positive for covid-19 and is also in isolation.

Replacements for Tanvir are being looked at while he is a replacement player.

Tanvir has been drafted in the tournament after the withdrawals of Wahab Riaz and Liam Plunkett.

Barring Lasith Malinga, most of the Sri Lankan national side regulars are a part of the tournament, while Rangana Herath is a part of the coaching staff.

Sarfaraz Ahmed has earlier been in line for a side’s captaincy but is now unavailable for the tournament.

After a mixed year, Sarfaraz Khan has found his way back in the national set-up and is retained in the squad for the tour of New Zealand.

The New Zealand tour effectively rules him out of the tournament as the quarantine rules will not make it easy to be available for both.

Another exciting news is the absence of Shahid Afridi.

Shahid Afridi is a member of the Galle Gladiators and was expected to travel to Sri Lanka today.

He has unfortunately missed his flight and will need to wait for his next opportunity to travel.

The Gladiators are hoping he arrives by Wednesday.

On arrival, Afridi will have to undergo three-day isolation and a less-stringent quarantine where he is likely allowed to train.

After the quarantine procedures and negative tests are complete, he will join the bio-secure bubble.

With the procedures in place, Afridi can miss at least two games in the Lankan Premier League.