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Updated August 25th, 2020 at 16:38 IST

Sri Lanka Premier League 2020 likely to have separate Pakistan team ft. Shahid Afridi?

According to a recent report by cricketpakistan.com.pk, a team from Pakistan is likely to be a part of the Sri Lanka Premier League 2020.

Reported by: Jatin Malu
Sri Lanka Premier League 2020
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The Sri Lanka Premier League 2020 is a much-anticipated tournament that Sri Lanka Cricket is looking forward to. It was supposed to begin earlier this year but was postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sri Lanka Premier League 2020 will feature five teams, named after the cities of Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna. 

ALSO READ | Irfan Pathan rubbishes rumours about Sri Lanka Premier League 2020 participation

Sri Lanka Premier League 2020 set to feature a team from Pakistan: Reports

Now, according to a report by cricketpakistan.com.pk, a team from Pakistan is likely to be a part of the Sri Lanka Premier League 2020. The talks have reached its final stages and an announcement is expected to be made soon. The report stated that a team from Pakistan might soon be added to the Sri Lanka Premier League 2020 with its owner rumoured to have a significant amount of cricketing acumen.

The Sri Lanka Premier League 2020 will be held somewhere between November and December. The management has added high-profile Pakistani cricketers like Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez in the initial list of icon cricketers. Moreover, international players such as AB De Villiers, Eoin Morgan, Yuvraj Singh, Sunil Narine, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Matthews, Irfan Pathan, Chris Gayle, Alex Hales, Shane Watson and Shakib al Hasan could also feature in the Sri Lanka Premier League 2020.

With the presence of a Pakistan team, it is likely that Shahid Afridi would be the biggest draw for the Sri Lanka Premier League, also taking into account his fanbase in Sri Lanka and his experience of playing in T20 leagues around the world despite not playing international cricket anymore. On the other hand, there has been no official confirmation from Yuvraj Singh or Irfan Pathan yet when it comes to playing in the tournament.

ALSO READ | Irfan Pathan: 'Be careful': Irfan Pathan urges bowlers to beware of MS Dhoni in IPL 2020

Aa many as 30 international cricketers are expected to participate in the league. The inclusion of Indian players is subjected to the issuance of NOC’s by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The tournament will feature 23 matches in total as each team is likely to play a minimum of 8 and maximum of 10 games.

India-owned Dubai-based company wins Sri Lanka Premier League 2020 rights

Recently, Sri Lanka Cricket awarded the marketing and organisation rights of the Sri Lanka Premier League 2020 to an Indian-owned Dubai-based company, Innovative Production Group (IPG). As many as 25 companies showed their interest in securing the marketing and organisation rights of the Sri Lanka Premier League after SLC floated a tender for the sale of rights in July. However, it was Dubai-based IPG who emerged as the highest bidder for the rights. The rights bagged include Team Franchise Team Ownership Rights, International Media Rights, Ground Sponsorship Rights and AV Production Rights.

ALSO READ | IPL 2020: MI dented as Lasith Malinga unavailable for 'first part' of tournament

The head of IPG is Anil Mohan, who is a veteran of sports broadcasting. Mohan has worked closely with Cricket South Africa (CSA), Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), Cricket Ireland (CI), Asian Cricket Council (ACC), Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) among others. Sangeet Shirodkar, a Director in IPG and the former business manager of CSK player Harbhajan Singh, said that they at IPG are enthralled with this opportunity and are confident of making Sri Lanka Premier League one of the most premier cricket leagues in the world.

ALSO READ | Yuvraj Singh: IPL 2020: KXIP's top 5 run-getters of all-time and it does NOT include Yuvraj Singh

IMAGE COURTESY: SRI LANKA CRICKET TWITTER

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Published August 25th, 2020 at 16:38 IST

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