The ‘Player Draft’ of the Lanka Premier League, scheduled for today (Friday), has been deferred to October 19.
The authorities were reportedly compelled to defer the draft following a burst of COVID-19 cases in Colombo.
The authorities, Sri Lanka Cricket and the commercial partners for the LPL will now closely monitor the situation.
SLC had announced on Thursday evening that the draft was being postponed due to the COVID-19 emergency.
“The Player Draft will not go ahead as planned, owing to the current health situation,” Sri Lanka Cricket said in a statement. The event has been rescheduled to October 19, and SLC would “closely monitor the health situation” over the next few days.
Sri Lanka has been among the nation to effectively controlling the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, this situation became alarming after more than 1,000 workers had tested positive for novel coronavirus in a Colombo factory. Thelocal administration has clamped lockdown in certain areas and banned public gatherings.
The league has earlier been rescheduled to start from November 21. The second rescheduling was compelled after the Pakistan Cricket Board had announced to stage the remaining four games of the Pakistan Super League from November 11 to 14.
Irfan Pathan, who is on the Indian Premier League commentary panel at present, was also named among the players pool for the LPL draft. Munaf Patel is the other Indian who might be seen playing the LPL.
Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy, Darren Bravo, Shahid Afridi and Shakib Al Hasan will be part of the drafts.
No competitive cricket is played in the island nation ever since the COVID-19 pandemic had brought the world to a halt in March this year. Sri Lanka Cricket has since been compelled to cancel several international series. Sri Lanka had to also miss out on the opportunity to host the T20 Asia Cup tournament.
The LPL has confirmed that one of the five potential teams has been acquired by the Pakistan Super League team Quetta Gladiators owners. The team will be named Galle Gladiators after its home base.
While there is still no certainty about the Lankan Premier League, SLC has also initiated process to launch a T10 league.