The Lanka Premier League 2021 (LPL 2021) is the annual edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL)Twenty20 franchise in Sri Lanka that’s scheduled to go live from 5th to 23rd December 2021. Initially, the plan to increase the number of teams from five to six were on the cards, but the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has confirmed that five teams will participate in the 2nd edition of the tournament.

Charit Senanayake was appointed as Chair of the 2021 LPL Technical Committee for the 2021 Lankan Premier League in June, 2021. The SLC agreed to suspend the Colombo Kings and Dambulla Viking teams later that month due to financial problems. The committee also confirmed that the two teams will be replaced by two new franchise teams. The following month, the SLC also ended the Jaffna Stallions franchise.

A slurry of changes have been incoming as part of the latest season of the LPL 2021. The tournament was originally scheduled to take place between 30th July and 22nd August 2021. On 9th July 2021, it was postponed from 19th November to 12th December, 2021 due to a shortage of foreign players.

In September, 2021, Dambulla Vikings changed its name to Dambulla Giants following a change of ownership. Later that month, Jaffna Stallions also changed its name to Jaffna Kings. In October 2021, the Kandy Tuskers were renamed as the Kandy Warriors after being announced under its new owners.

LPL 2021 Venue

All of the matches of the LPL 2021 will be played between two stadiums:

• Premadasa Stadium in Colombo- biggest in the country- capacity 35,000,      and
• Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota – built-in 2011- also capacity 35,000.

Team list for LPL 2021

Five teams will be participating in this edition of Lanka Premier League 2021:

• Jaffna Kings
• Galle Gladiators
• Colombo Stars
• Dambulla Giants
• Kandy Warriors

Player list for LPL 2021

Angelo Matthews, Kusal Perera, Akila Dananjaya, Dinesh Chandimal, and Dananjaya de Silva were ruled out in the  LPL 2021 drafts.

Schedule of Matches for LPL 2021

Players to Watch Out for in LPL 2021

• Vanindu Hasaranga ( Jaffna Kings) – Leading wicket-taker( LPL 2020) and Man of the Tournament( LPL 2020).
• Danushka Gunathilaka( Galle Gladiators)- Leading Run-scorer( LPL 2020).
• Chris Gayle ( Colombo Stars)
• Faf du Plessis ( Jaffna Kings)
• Imran Tahir ( Dambulla Giants)
• Dhananjaya Lakshan( Galle Gladiators) – Emerging Player of the Tournament (LPL 2020).

Going back to its previous edition, here’s how the series turned out last year. Let’s check out its highlights below.

LPL 2020 Stats and Schedule

In the Lanka Premier League 2020 group stage, each team played eight matches. The first four teams advanced to the playoffs. The 2020 edition of the Lanka Premier League Final was a Twenty20 cricket match which was played between Galle Gladiators and Jaffna Stallions on December 16th, 2020, at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota, Sri Lanka.

Galle Gladiators earned the title of champions of  LPL 2020. Shoaib Malik was named Player of the Match for all his hard work on the night.

If all this talk has got you curious, why not join the LPL fever and upcoming cricket leagues on BalleBaazi by participating in the most thrilling fantasy leagues of this season. Create the best team to score high and win cash prizes on each league. Download the app today to play your first match for free!