The Lanka Premier League (abbreviated as LPL; , ) 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 2026, there have been six seasons of the tournament. The current title holder team is Galle Gallants, who won their maiden title in the 2026 Lanka Premier League by defeating Jaffna Kings 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.Samantha Dodanwela appointed LPL Tournament Director Thepapare.com Retrieved 4 May 2022 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 OwnerColombo KapsColombo, Western Province 2020Kusal MendisChamara Kapugedera Witness Sports AllianceDambulla SixersDambulla, Central Province 2020Dinesh ChandimalRangana Herath Sequoia ConsultantsGalle GallantsGalle, Southern Province 2020Dasun ShanakaPubudu DassanayakeGallant Sports & Media LLCJaffna KingsJaffna, Northern Province 2020Bhanuka RajapakshaThilina KandambyAnchor SportsKandy RoyalsKandy, Central Province 2020Angelo MathewsChaminda VaasKandy Royals LLC
Franchise history width=100px 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2026 Colombo Colombo Kings (Murfad Mustafa) Colombo Stars (Softlogic Holdings) Colombo Strikers (SKKY Group) Colombo Kaps (Witness Sports Alliance) Dambulla Dambulla Viiking (Sachiin Joshi) Dambulla Giants (Qamar Khan) Dambulla Aura (Viranjith Thambugala) Dambulla Sixers (Sequoia Consultants) Galle Galle Gladiators (Nadeem Omar) Galle Titans (Nayana Wasalathilake) Galle Marvels (Cricket Marvels LLC) Galle Gallants (Gallant Sports & Media LLC) Jaffna Jaffna Stallions (Anandan Arnold; Rahul Sood) Jaffna Kings (Lyca Mobile) Jaffna Kings (Sports Commune, later Anchor Sports) Kandy 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 Royals (Sandhya Ajjarapu)
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.LPL Player Draft 2022 | Players List 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.LPL Season 4 to have IPL-style auction for the five squads
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% 34.958 81.20% 90.953 6.05% 2023 831 (0.95%) 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.
Tournament seasons and results Out of the five franchises that have played in the league, the Jaffna franchise has won four titles, while the Kandy franchise has won only one title.
Finals SeasonFinalWinnersResultVenue2020Jaffna Stallions188/6 (20 overs)Jaffna Stallions won by 53 runs ScorecardGalle Gladiators135/9 (20 overs)Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium,HambantotaWanindu Hasaranga (Jaffna Stallions)2021Jaffna Kings201/3 (20 overs) Jaffna Kings won by 23 runs ScorecardGalle Gladiators178/9 (20 overs)Avishka Fernando (Jaffna Kings)2022Jaffna KingsJaffna Kings won by 2 wickets ScorecardColombo Stars163/5 (20 overs)R. Premadasa Stadium,ColomboSadeera Samarawickrama (Jaffna Kings)2023B-Love Kandy151/5 (19.5 overs)B-Love Kandy won by 5 wickets ScorecardDambulla Aura147/4 (20 overs)Wanindu Hasaranga (B-Love Kandy)2024Jaffna Kings185/1 (15.4 overs)Jaffna Kings won by 9 wickets ScorecardGalle MarvelsRilee Rossouw (Jaffna Kings)2026Galle Gallants126/5 (15.5 overs)Galle Gallants won by 5 wickets ScorecardJaffna KingsKamil Mishara (Jaffna Kings)
Team playing records
Teams Won Lost Win% Colombo Kaps 56 26 29 1 0 0 48.21 Dambulla Sixers 53 23 25 0 2 3 46.00 Galle Gallants 60 25 32 2 0 1 45.76 Jaffna Kings 61 38 21 0 0 2 64.40 Kandy Royals 56 25 30 0 1 0 44.64 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 202020212022202320242026Colombo Kaps 3rd 4th RU 5th 4th 3rd 4th 3rd 5th RU 5th 5thGalle Gallants RU RU 4th 3rd RU CJaffna Kings C C C 4th C RUKandy Royals 5th 5th 3rd C 3rd 4th
Records
Batting RecordsMost runsAvishka Fernando (Jaffna Kings, Dambulla Sixers)1,544Highest scoreLahiru Udara (Kandy Royals)132* vs Galle Gallants (29 July 2026)Highest partnershipKusal Mendis & Rilee Rossouw (Jaffna Kings)185* vs Galle Marvels (21 July 2024)Most fiftiesAvishka Fernando (Jaffna Kings, Dambulla Sixers)15Most sixesAvishka Fernando (Jaffna Kings, Dambulla Sixers)78 Bowling RecordsMost wicketsWanindu Hasaranga (Jaffna Kings, Kandy Royals)72Best bowling figuresWanindu Hasaranga (B-Love Kandy)6/9 vs Jaffna Kings (17 August 2023) Fielding RecordsMost dismissals (wicket-keeper)Niroshan Dickwella (Dambulla Sixers, Colombo Kaps, Galle Marvels)30Most catches (fielder)Wanindu Hasaranga (Jaffna Kings, Kandy Royals)34 Team recordsHighest totalJaffna Kings 242/2 (20) vs Galle Gallants (5 August 2026)Lowest totalDambulla Giants69 (14.1) vs Jaffna Kings (13 December 2021) Source: records extracted from Cricinfo
Broadcasters
+Country TV ChannelOnline StreamingSri LankaMonara TV Star Sports ThePapare TVDialog ViU App PEO Mobile App ThePapare.com AustraliaFox SportsBangladeshT SportsIScreenIndiaStar SportsFanCodeNew ZealandSky Sport NZPakistanA SportsTapmadMycoSouth AfricaSytxSports.comRest of the worldMonara TV YouTube SLC YouTube
See also
List of Lanka Premier League centuries List of Lanka Premier League five-wicket hauls
References
Notes
External links
Official Website of LPL