Lanka Premier League has been hit by a string of withdrawals with the likes of Andre Russell, Faf du Plessis, David Miller and Dawid Malan pulling out of the inaugural T20 tournament due to various reasons.
While Russell is unavailable due to a knee injury. Du Plessis, Miller and Malan will be part of a bilateral England-South Africa series owing to which they won’t be able to take part on LPL 2020.
Among those to have withdrawn includes Indian wicket-keeper batsman Manvinder Bisla, who played 35 IPL matches
LPL is scheduled to be held from November 21 to December 13.
“The franchises that had these players will have to negotiate with other players to take their place,” LPL director Ravin Wickramaratne told ESPNcricinfo.
Russell, Miller, du Plessis and Malan were picked up as marquee players.
The franchise that has been hit the hardest is Colombo Kings, who had all three of Russell, du Plessis and Bisla on its roster.
Malan was expected to turn out for the Jaffna Stallions.
Five teams will be part of the event including Colombo Kings, Jaffna Stallions, Dambull Hawks, Galle Gladiators and Kandy Tuskers.
The matches are scheduled to be held 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.
International Sri Lanka stars including Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Dasun Shankana among others will be turning out for the various teams.
The draft for the tournament was held earlier this month with Chris Gayle leading a host of T20 superstars who will be in action.