Sri Lanka Cricket considering hosting five-team T20 league in August aside from Asia Cup, bilateral plans

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is considering hosting a T20 tournament, Lankan Premier League, in August, despite uncertainty looking over the home series against India and Bangladesh due to the COVID-19 pandemic. SLC reckons it has a chance to safely host a T20 league this year with significant foreign involvement as the island nation, unlike several other countries, has managed the health crisis well, according to a media report. [caption id=“attachment_1786087” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Image credit: Twitter/@OfficialSLC[/caption] Sri Lanka has so far reported less than 2,000 positive cases and 11 deaths while several countries continue to have in place, strict travel restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected over 8.8 million people worldwide. “SLC CEO Ashley de Silva is understood to have written to other boards about the prospect of a Lankan Premier League (LPL), while foreign players have also been approached,” ESPNCricinfo reported. “Tournament planning, though, remains in its very preliminary stages, with no official announcement having yet come from the board. At present, SLC is working on the theory that LPL may feature five teams and could last a little over three weeks,” the report said. Starting August, foreign players, support staff, and broadcast personnel will not be required to undergo a long quarantine upon arrival in Sri Lanka. They will be required to return two negative COVID-19 results, one shortly before boarding their flights in their respective countries and another soon after arriving in Sri Lanka and SLC is banking on this detail going in its favour. SLC is also hopeful of hosting the Asia Cup in September while efforts are on to get India over for three ODIs and as many T20Is and Bangladesh over for three Tests. An SLC official said that government approval had been granted not just for a potential LPL, but also for the India, Bangladesh and Asia Cup tours. Last week, India’s limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic with both the Boards saying that the situation is not feasible for the games to go ahead. Sri Lanka has also offered to host the Indian Premier League that has been postponed indefinitely.