Lanka Premier League To Feature 'Big Names'; Chris Gayle And Faf Du Plessis' Already Picked

The likes of West Indies' Chris Gayle, South Africa's Faf du Plessis and Pakistan's Shoaib Malik were picked up for this edition of the Lanka Premier League during the 'Player Draft' held in Colombo on Wednesday.

Each of the five franchises -- Colombo Stars, Dambulla Giants, Galle Gladiators, Jaffna Kings and Kandy Warriors -- has packed their teams with a host of explosive and international cricket stars.

The Colombo Stars will have the services of hard-hitter Chris Gayle, who despite an ordinary T20 World Cup for the West Indies, is always a dangerous player if he gets going. Dushmantha Cheemara, Ahmed Shehzad, Dilshan Munaweera, Mohammad Irfan, Al Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Pathum Nissanka Silva, Lakshan Sandakan, Seekkuge Prasanna, Manpreet Singh, Gihan Rupasinghe, Lahiru Gamage, TM Sampath, Nuwanidu Fernando, Jehan Kieth Zeon Daniel, Malindu Maduranga, Nalin Priyadarshana, Hashan Dumindu Ranasinghe and Kanagarathinam Kabilraj are the other players in the squad.

Meanwhile, the Dambulla Giants have picked South African Imran Tahir, Dasun Shanaka, Rilee Rossouw, Chamika Karunaratne, Sohaib Maqsood, Odean Smith, Josh Little, Niroshan Dickwella, Nuwan Pradeep, Ramesh Mendis, Najibullah Zadran, Tharindu Ratnayake, Lahiru Udara Igalagamage, Sacha DeAlwis Seneveratne, Muditha Lakshan, Kalana Perera, Sachitha Jayathilake, Madushan Ravichandrakumar, Janith Liyanage and Chamikara Edirisinghe.

The Galle Gladiators have acquired Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez, Isuru Udana, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kusal Mendis, Mohammad Amir, Samit Patel, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Danushka Gunathilaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Anwar Ali, DH Ashan Pulina Tharanga, Nuwan Thushara, Lahiru Madushanka, Dilshan Madushanka, Ashian Daniel, Kevin Koththigoda, Mohammed Shamaaz, Suminda Lakshan and Angelo Jayasinghe.

The Jaffna Kings have picked up South Africa's 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, Chamika Gunasekara, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Theivendiram Dinoshan, Ashan Randika, Rathnaraj Thenuradan and Wijesuriya Arachchige Krishan Sanjula.

The Kandy Warriors have acquired the services of Rovman Powell, Charith Asalanka, Cameron Delport, Lahiru Kumara, Mohammad Mithun, Nazmul Islam Apu, Mehedi Hasan Rana, Angelo Perera, Asela Gunaratne, Milinda Siriwardana, Amjad Khan, Ishan Jayaratne, Binura Udara Fernando, Kamindu Mendis, Kamil Mishara, Ayana Siriwardene, Nimesh Vimukthi, Udara Jayasundara, Shashika Dulshan and Kalhara Senarathna.

A total of 600 players, consisting of 300 overseas and 300 Sri Lankan featured in the 'Player Draft', which was organised virtually with the participation of five franchise owners and the SLC officials. The draft consisted of 20 rounds, covering several player categories, such as 'Local and Overseas Icon Player', 'Local and Overseas Diamond Player', 'Local and Overseas Gold Player', and 'Local and Overseas Classic Player'.

There was also the 'Local Emerging' and 'Supplementary Local' rounds focusing on selecting Sri Lanka's young talent.

The Lanka Premier League 2021 is set to be held from December 5 to December 23.