The 2026 Lanka Premier League was the 6th edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league held in Sri Lanka, organised by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). It has been held annually since the first edition in 2020 with the exception of 2025. In January 2026, the SLC announced that instead of an auction a players' draft would be held ahead of the 2026 season. The players' draft was originally scheduled for 22 March 2026 but was postponed to 1 June 2026. Overseas player registrations commenced on 8 May. Over 650 players from 21 countries registered for the draft, 310 of whom were shortlisted. Twenty players including ten overseas players were directly signed before the draft. A total of 77 players including 25 overseas players were signed in the draft.
Pre-draft direct signings Each team was allowed to sign two Icon players and two Star players, one of each being a domestic player and the other an overseas player, with a salary range of 60,000 to 80,000. The SLC initially required the Icon and Star players to have more than 250,000 social media followers; this rule was vacated after people spoke out against it.
+ Pre-draft direct signings Player category Salary range Colombo Kaps Dambulla Sixers Galle Gallants Jaffna Kings Kandy Royals Domestic Icon 60,000 – 80,000 Kusal Mendis Dushmantha Chameera Dasun Shanaka Bhanuka Rajapaksa Wanindu Hasaranga Domestic Star 60,000 – 80,000 Kamindu Mendis Dinesh Chandimal Eshan Malinga Dunith Wellalage Angelo Mathews Overseas Icon 60,000 – 80,000 James Neesham Sahibzada Farhan Rassie van der Dussen Shakib Al Hasan Moeen Ali Overseas Star 60,000 – 80,000 Ben McDermott Reeza Hendricks Litton Das Taskin Ahmed Vijay Shankar
Players' draft Each team was required to sign at least 14 players, with a maximum of 16 players under 10 categories, including 5 overseas players in 4 categories. One overseas player had to be from an associate country, while two domestic players had to be under the age of 23.
+ Domestic player signings Player category Salary Colombo Kaps Dambulla Sixers Galle Gallants Jaffna Kings Kandy Royals Platinum 50,000 Binura Fernando Maheesh Theekshana Charith Asalanka Avishka Fernando Nuwan Thushara Gold 30,000 each Sadeera Samarawickrama Niroshan Dickwella Pramod Madushan Dilshan Madushanka Kusal Perera Milan Rathnayake Pavan Rathnayake Lasith Croospulle Kamil Mishara Asitha Fernando Janith Liyanage Akila Dananjaya Vijayakanth Viyaskanth Traveen Mathew Garuka Sanketh Classic 20,000 each Jeffrey Vandersay Dhananjaya Lakshan Sahan Arachchige Mohamed Shiraz Vishen Halambage Thanuka Dabare Ramesh Mendis Chamika Karunaratne Chamindu Wickramasinghe Muditha Lakshan Movin Subasingha Sachitha Jayathilake Tharindu Rathnayake Nuwanidu Fernando Lahiru Udara Emerging U23 10,000 each Malsha Tharupathi Vishwa Lahiru Kumara Dinura Kalupahana Kugathas Mathulan Sahan Mihira Sharujan Shanmuganathan Gayana Weerasinghe Yuri Koththigoda Praveen Manisha Pavan Sandesh Optional Gold 30,000 Wanuja Sahan Kasun Rajitha Nishan Madushka Dushan Hemantha Optional Classic 20,000 Anthony Arul Pragasam Sachindu Colombage Isitha Wijesundara
+ Overseas player signings Player category Salary Colombo Kaps Dambulla Sixers Galle Gallants Jaffna Kings Kandy Royals Platinum 50,000 Mujeeb Ur Rahman Fazalhaq Farooqi Mohammad Nawaz David Wiese Rahmanullah Gurbaz Gold 30,000 Shahnawaz Dahani Mohammad Wasim Jr. Akif Javed Ibrahim Zadran Daniel Sams Classic 20,000 each Mohammad Haris Gulbadin Naib Sam Harper Sandeep Lamichhane Dale Phillips Hasan Mahmud Dian Forrester Mehidy Hasan Miraz Lizaad Williams Zahir Khan Associate Star 15,000 Kushal Bhurtel Shadley van Schalkwyk Haider Ali Dipendra Singh Airee Brandon McMullen
Withdrawn players + Withdrawn players from the 2026 Lanka Premier League Player Team Category Reason Withdrawalannouncementdate Replacement player Signing date Kandy Royals Overseas Platinum National duty 4 June 2026 8 July 2026 Galle Gallants Associate Star National duty 16 June 2026 16 June 2026 Dambulla Sixers Overseas Classic Participating in GSL 19 June 2026 19 June 2026 Colombo Kaps Overseas Classic Participating in GSL 1 July 2026 1 July 2026 Jaffna Kings Associate Star National duty 8 July 2026 8 July 2026 Galle Gallants Overseas Icon Personal reasons 9 July 2026 11 July 2026 Kandy Royals Overseas Gold Personal reasons 11 July 2026 12 July 2026 Galle Gallants Overseas Star Left calf injury 14 July 2026 15 July 2026 Colombo Kaps Domestic Icon Hamstring injury 22 July 2026 24 July 2026 Jaffna Kings Overseas Star National duty 23 July 2026 23 July 2026 Kandy Royals Domestic Classic Hamstring injury 25 July 2026 25 July 2026 Colombo Kaps Overseas Classic National duty 27 July 2026 27 July 2026 Dambulla Sixers Overseas Platinum National duty 27 July 2026 27 July 2026 Galle Gallants Overseas Classic National duty 31 July 2026 31 July 2026 Kandy Royals Associate Star National duty 1 August 2026 colspan=2 Jaffna Kings Overseas Gold National duty 1 August 2026 1 August 2026 Kandy Royals Overseas Icon Domestic commitments 1 August 2026 colspan=2 Kandy Royals Overseas Platinum National duty 1 August 2026 colspan=2
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