LPL 2022: In this day and age of Twenty20 cricket, the Lanka Premier League is just one more tournament played in the shortest format of the game that gives cricket fans the chance to experience more of the sport. The Sri Lanka cricket authority is in charge of organizing the cricket competition known as the Lanka Premier League, which is played between T20 franchises or clubs.

The Sri Lanka Cricket Board will run the third season of the LPL in 2022. The tournament will begin on December 6 and go until the 23rd of December that same year. Jaffna Kings were victorious in the championship match of the previous LPL season, which took place in 2021.

LPL 2022: Teams participating

The following 5 teams will compete in the forthcoming LPL 2022:

Colombo Stars

One of the five teams participating in the LPL 2022 is Colombo Stars, which will be captained by Angelo Mathews. The team is now owned by Ruwan Kalpage and represents Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, in the LPL. The team was formerly known as Colombo Kings when Murfad Mustafa was the owner, but the name has since been changed to Colombo Stars as a result of the owner’s replacement.

Starting with Dav Whatmore, the franchise went through a variety of coaches, including Kabir Ali, Herschelle Gibbs, and eventually Ruwan Kalpage. Currently, Softlogic Holdings’ Ashok Pathirage is the club’s owner. The international players for the Stars are Asif Ali, Dwaine Pretorius, Karim Janat, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, and Dominic Drakes. For Colombo Stars in LPL, Dinesh Chandimal holds the top spot for most runs scored. He has played in 18 LPL games, and in that time, he has scored 523 runs at an average of 43.58. Dushmantha Chameera, on the other hand, leads the Colombo Stars in wickets taken with 17 from 21 LPL games. The team played 14 LPL games while Angelo Matthews served as captain, winning 8 and losing 5 of those games.

Dambulla Giants

Another T20 team, the Dambulla Giants, will compete in the upcoming third season of the LPL 2022, led by Dasun Shanaka. Currently owned by Qamar Khan MBE, the franchise stands in for Dambulla town.

The Dambulla Giants’ international players include D’Arcy Short, Haider Ali, Sacha De Alwis, Ben Cutting, Tim Seifert, Sandeep Lamichhane, and Sheldon Cottrell. Sampath Perera, Kaushalya Gajasinghe, and Stuart Law share the duties of the head coach and assistant coach, respectively. With 421 runs, Niroshan Dickwella leads the Giants in run production, while Imran Tahir leads the team in wickets taken.

Galle Gladiators

The following team competing in the LPL 2022 is the Galle Gladiators, led by Kusal Mendis. With Azam Khan serving as manager, Nadeem Omar (Omar Associates) is the franchise’s owner. The Galle Gladiators’ head coach is Umar Gul, while Wasim Akram will serve as their mentor.

The Gladiators reached the LPL finals in each of its final two seasons, however they were unable to win the league’s championship instead finishing second. Janneman Malan, Sherfane Rutherford, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Azam Khan are some of the international players on the team. Shahid Afridi led the team at first, but he struggled to lead the team to victory. From that point on, until 2021, the team was led by Bhanuka Rajapaksha.

Jaffna Kings

Thisara Perera will serve as the team’s captain, and Thilina Kandamby will serve as the team’s head coach as they compete in the LPL tournament. Subaskaran Allirajah, a British-born Sri Lankan Tamil entrepreneur with the Lyca Group, is the owner of the Jaffna Kings. The most successful team in the Lanka Premier League is Jaffna Kings, which won the championship twice in 2020 and 2021.

Players from outside the United States will be viewed as Evin Lewis, Shoaib Malik, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Tristan Stubbs, Hardus Viljoen, and Shahnawaz Dahani. Together with Mario Villavarayana serving as an assistant and fielding coach, Jehan Mubarak will be in charge of coaching the batting team.

Kandy Falcons

This team’s previous names, Kandy Tuskers and Kandy Warriors were changed to Kandy Falcons in 2022. Under the leadership of Wanindu Hasaranga, the squad will compete in the LPL in 2022, however, the identity of the coach has not yet been revealed.

The team’s owner is Parvez Khan, and Shyam Impett serves as manager and director. Former Sri Lankan player Sanath Jayasuriya has been hired as a consulting coach.

The international group includes Dewald Brevis, Carlos Brathwaite, Fabian Allen, Chris Green, Andre Fletcher, and Ahmed Daniyal. For the Kandy Falcons in the LPL 2022, Nimesh Vimukthi has taken the most wickets with 10, while Kusal Mendis is the team’s top run scorer with 263 runs.

LPL 2022: Venues

The Sri Lankan cricket authorities have decided that the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota, and the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy will serve as the locations for the matches that will comprise the LPL 2022.

LPL 2022: Players list

Colombo Stars

Ravi Bopara (England), Naveen-ul-Haq (Afghanistan), Dominic Drakes (West Indies), Karim Janat (Afghanistan), Dhananjaya Lakshan, Ishan Jayaratne, Muditha Lakshan, Lakshitha Manasinghe, Angelo Mathews (captain), Seekkuge Prasanna, Dinesh Chandimal, Jeffrey Vandersay, Charith Asalanka, Niroshan Dickwella, Romario Shepherd (West Indies), Benny Howell (England), Kevin Koththigoda, Chathuranga Kumara, Navod Paranavithana, Chamod Battage.

Dambulla Giants 

Pramod Madushan, Lasith Croospulle, Kalana Perera, Dilum Sudeera, Sachitha Jayathilake, Dushan Hemantha, Ravindu Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Shevon Daniel, Lahiru Madushanka, Dasun Shanaka (captain), Ramesh Mendis, Tharindu Ratnayake, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Chaturanga de Silva, Haider Ali (Pakistan), Jordan Cox (England), Tom Abell (England), Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe), Paul van Meekeren (Netherlands), Noor Ahmad (Afghanistan), Chamindu Wickramasinghe.

Galle Gladiators

Sachindu Colombage, Lakshan Gamage, Tharindu Kaushal, Shammu Ashan, Kusal Perera, Nuwan Pradeep, Iftikhar Ahmed (Pakistan), Anwar Ali (Pakistan), Kusal Mendis, Pulina Tharanga, Nuwan Thushara, Lakshan Sandakan, Imad Wasim (Pakistan), Azam Khan (Pakistan), Nuwanidu Fernando, Nimesh Vimukthi, Movin Subasingha, Nipun Malinga, Mohammad Hasnain (Pakistan), Asad Shafiq (Pakistan).

Jaffna Kings

Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dilshan Madushanka, Nipun Dananjaya, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Theesan Vithushan, Theivendiram Dinoshan, James Neesham (New Zealand), Tom Kohler-Cadmore (England), Thisara Perera (captain), Shoaib Malik (Pakistan), Maheesh Theekshana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Afghanistan), Ashan Randika, Praveen Jayawickrama, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dunith Wellalage, Binura Fernando, Suminda Lakshan, James Fuller (New Zealand), Waqar Salamkheil (Afghanistan), Avishka Fernando, Asitha Fernando.

Kandy Falcons

Malinda Pushpakumara, Janith Liyanage, Lasith Abeyratne, Kavin Bandara, Pathum Nissanka, Oshane Thomas (West Indies), Najibullah Zadran (Afghanistan), Wanindu Hasaranga (captain), Kamindu Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies), Fabian Allen (West Indies), Andre Fletcher (West Indies), Isuru Udana, Ashen Bandara, Ashan Priyanjan, Minod Bhanuka, Avishka Perera, Ashian Daniel, Chamindu Wijesinghe, Zahoor Khan (UAE), Milan Rathnayake.

LPL 2022: Full schedule

LPL 2022: Format

The top four teams from the league stage will then move on to the Play-offs, where the top two teams will compete in Qualifier 1 on December 21 at RPS Colombo, followed by the Eliminator match between the bottom two teams, also scheduled at the same location. While the victor of the eliminator will face the losing team of Qualifier 1 in the Qualifier 2 match, the winner of Qualifier 1 will advance directly to the LPL 2022 final.

The winning team in Qualifier 2 will eventually go to the league final, which is scheduled for December 23 at RPS Colombo. Many well-known international athletes that were selected in the LPL 2022 draft, such as Shoaib Malik, Carlos Braithwaite, Dwaine Pretorius, Romario Shepherd, and D’Arcy Short, will also participate in the thrilling competition.