Manpreet Gony, Manvinder Bisla To Play In Lanka Premier League

Manpreet Gony and Manvinder Bisla are the two Indians players who will be featuring in the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) beginning next month.

In the draft held on Monday, Manpreet and Manvinder were picked by Colombo Kings, one of the five teams participating in the T20 league.

Manpreet, a right-arm medium pacer, played two ODIs for India - one against Hong Kong and the other against Bangladesh. Besides, the 36-year-old also played 44 games in the Indian Premier League. Manvinder, a wicketkeeper-batsman, played 35 IPL matches, scoring 798 runs.

In the draft held online, West Indies legend Chris Gayle was picked as one of the foreign icons by Kandy Tuskers. Apart from Gayle, the Tuskers also picked up Kusal Janith as the local icon while Liam Plunkett is the second foreign icon in the team. The Tuskers also have former Sri Lankan captain Hashan Tillakaratne in its coaching staff.

Colombo Kings also picked Angelo Mathews, former Faf du Plessis, and Andre Russell among others. Mathews is the local icon in the team while du Plessis and Russell are the two overseas icons. The Kings also picked Dav Whatmore, as part of the coaching set-up.

Galle Gladiators have Lasith Malinga as the local icon while Shahid Afridi and Colin Ingram are the two overseas signings and the team will be coached by former Pakistan skipper Moin Khan.

Dasun Shanaka is the local icon for Dambulla Hawks while David Miller and Carlos Brathwaite are the overseas signings. The Hawks team will be coached by former English cricketer Jon Lewis. Jaffna Stallions have Thisara Perera as the local icon and Dawid Malan as the overseas signing.

The tournament is scheduled to be played from November 21 to December 13 at two venues -- Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy and Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota. A total of 23 matches will be played over a period of 15 days.