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The Player Draft of the 2nd Edition of the Lanka Premier League 2021

by with No Comment Media Release

The Player Draft of the 2nd Edition of the Lanka Premier League 2021, Sri Lanka’s topmost domestic T20 League is scheduled to be held on the 05th November 2021.

A total of 600 players, consisting of 300 overseas and 300 Sri Lankan players will feature in the upcoming ‘Draft,’ which will be held virtually with the participation of 05 Franchise Owners and the SLC officials.

The draft will consist of 20 rounds, covering several player categories, such as ‘Local and Overseas Icon Player’, ‘Local and Overseas Diamond Player’, ‘Local and Overseas Gold Player’, and ‘Local and Overseas Classic Player’.

Whilst, there will be ‘Local Emerging’ and ‘Supplementary Local’ rounds focusing on selecting Sri Lanka’s young talent.

A squad will consist of 20 players, with 14 local and 06 overseas players.

If necessary, a team can retain 08 players (04 local and 04 overseas) from the previous year’s squad, whilst the rest will have to be picked from the upcoming ‘Player Draft.’

The first round of the tournament will be played at the RPICS Colombo, whilst the final round will be held at MRICS, Hambantota.

Jaffna-TJ-Moores-out-by-Kandy-Gunaratnec-Kady

Safexpay Founder & CEO Ravi Gupta and Vernost Director Pankaj Tripathi – new owners of Kandy LPL franchise

by with No Comment Media Release

Colombo: The Lanka Premier League Kandy franchise has new owners as Safexpay Founder & CEO Ravi Gupta and Vernost Director Pankaj Tripathi enters the second season of the premier T20 tournament of the Island Nation by acquiring the Kandy-based franchise in the tournament.

Ravi Gupta is the founder and CEO of Safexpay, which is a Mumbai-headquartered fintech focused on solving problems for businesses who need to either accept online payments from or make payouts to various stakeholders. Safexpay has a strong presence in India, UAE and Singapore.

Speaking about entering the LPL, Gupta said, “The Lanka Premier League garnered a lot of interest from some of the biggest stars and the cricket fans from around the world in the first season and therefore I am absolutely delighted to enter the tournament as the co-owner of the Kandy franchise this year. The Lanka Premier League is certainly going to grow and evolve into one of the most sought-after T20 leagues in the world and I am very excited to be a part of the success of the tournament in the upcoming years.”

Pankaj Tripathi is the director of Vernost Technologies LLC which consult and help customers build, manage, develop and support complex & new generation business applications for end-customer & trade. Solutions such as customer-first, mobile-first, AI-first, commerce-first have been successfully delivered by the company in domains of Customer Engagement Solutions, Digital Payment, Online marketplace, Ecommerce Services, Online Travel Technology & Digital Distribution.

Speaking about the new venture, Tripathi said, “We are ecstatic to be a part of the Lanka Premier League as the co-owner of the Kandy franchise. The LPL has caught the imagination of cricket fans from around the world and we wanted to be a part of the amazing competition in the upcoming seasons. We are eagerly looking forward to engaging with the fans and having a cracker of a season.”

Welcoming the new owners, Mr Anil Mohan, Founder and CEO of Dubai-based production giant IPG, the official promoter of LPL, said, “It’s a huge honour and privilege for me to welcome Safexpay Founder and CEO Mr Ravi Gupta and Vernost Director Pankaj Tripathi as the owners of the Kandy franchise. I am certain that their passion for the game will bolster the Kandy franchise and also attract more fans to the Lanka Premier League in the upcoming seasons.”

The new owners of the Kandy franchise are expecting to construct a strong team for the second season of the LPL in the Player’s Draft, which is set to be held on 27 October 2021. Gupta said, “We will certainly try to acquire a well-balanced team in the Player’s Draft.” While, Tripathi expressed, “Hopefully the team performs to the best of its ability in the season and garners the desired results.”

The inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) which was played in a bio-secure bubble at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota from November 26 till December 16, 2020, reached a cumulative audience of 557 million people through TV, digital-social space, and traditional media outlets. Sponsors enjoyed a media evaluation (visibility) of $54.5m and title sponsor MY11CIRCLE enjoyed a ROI of 9.85x. Winner of the first edition of LPL Jaffna Stallions tops the valuation chart with $3.98m followed by Galle Gladiators ($3.82m), Dambulla Viikings (Now Dambulla Giants) ($3.54m) Colombo Kings ($3.44m) and Kandy Tuskers ($3.19m).

The LPL matches which were telecast live by Sky Sports, Sony Sports Network, Geo, PTV, and Willow TV in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, UK, US, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand saw 155 million people tuning in to catch live action. On social media, it achieved a reach of 218 million and LPL found 133478 mentions as the league came alive with each and every match with some scintillating performances on the ground.

About Safexpay

 Safexpay is a Mumbai-headquartered fintech focussed on solving problems for businesses who need to either accept online payments from or make payouts to various stakeholders. The company also specializes in making its platform available to other merchant acquirers such as banks, financial institutions, fintechs & international clients making it the leader in B2B2B white labelled payments.

About Vernost

 Vernost Technologies LLC consult and help Customers Build, Manage, Develop and Support complex & new generation business applications for End-Customer & Trade. Solutions such as Customer-First, Mobile-First, AI-First, Commerce-First have been successfully delivered by the Company in domains of Customer Engagement Solutions, Digital Payment, Online marketplace, Ecommerce Services, Online Travel Technology & Digital Distribution. From a Technology Innovation standpoint, we have been the earliest adopters and have an established practice on AI, Blockchain, Commerce, Analytics & Cloud.

LPL-Uncap

Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis, Shoaib Malik, Imran Tahir picked in Lanka Premier League 2021 ‘Player Draft’

by with No Comment Media Release

The franchises of the Lanka Premier League confirmed the make-up of their squads in the Lanka Premier League 2021 ‘Player Draft’ on Tuesday. Each of the five franchises which include Colombo Stars, Dambulla Giants, Galle Gladiators, Jaffna Kings and Kandy Warriors have packed their teams with a host of explosive and international cricket stars.

The Colombo Stars will receive the services of Chris Gayle, Dushmantha Cheemara, Ahmed Shehzad, Dilshan Munaweera, Mohammad Irfan, Al Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Pathum Nissanka Silva, Lakshan Sandakan, Seekkuge Prasanna, Manpreet Singh, Gihan Rupasinghe, Lahiru Gamage, TM Sampath, Nuwanidu Fernando, Jehan Kieth Zeon Daniel, Malindu Maduranga, Nalin Priyadarshana, Hashan Dumindu Ranasinghe and Kanagarathinam Kabilraj.

Meanwhile, the Dambulla Giants have picked Imran Tahir, Dasun Shanaka, Rilee Rossouw, Chamika Karunaratne, Sohaib Maqsood, Odean Smith, Josh Little, Niroshan Dickwella, Nuwan Pradeep, Ramesh Mendis, Najibullah Zadran, Tharindu Ratnayake, Lahiru Udara Igalagamage, Sacha DeAlwis Seneveratne, Muditha Lakshan, Kalana Perera, Sachitha Jayathilake, Madushan Ravichandrakumar, Janith Liyanage and Chamikara Edirisinghe.

The Galle Gladiators have acquired Mohammad Hafeez, Isuru Udana, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kusal Mendis, Mohammad Amir, Samit Patel, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Danushka Gunathilaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Anwar Ali, DH Ashan Pulina Tharanga, Nuwan Thushara, Lahiru Madushanka, Dilshan Madushanka, Ashian Daniel, Kevin Koththigoda, Mohammed Shamaaz, Suminda Lakshan and Angelo Jayasinghe.

While the Jaffna Kings have picked up Faf du Plessis, Thisara Perera, Wahab Riaz, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shoaib Malik, Usman Shinwari, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Avishka Fernando, Upul Tharanga, Chaturanga de Silva, Jayden Seales, Suranga Lakmal, Ashen Bandara, Maheesh Theekshana, Chamika Gunasekara, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Theivendiram Dinoshan, Ashan Randika, Rathnaraj Thenuradan and Wijesuriya Arachchige Krishan Sanjula.

The Kandy Warriors have acquired the services of Rovman Powell, Charith Asalanka, Cameron Delport, Lahiru Kumara, Mohammad Mithun, Nazmul Islam Apu, Mehedi Hasan Rana, Angelo Perera, Asela Gunaratne, Milinda Siriwardana, Amjad Khan, Ishan Jayaratne, Binura Udara Fernando, Kamindu Mendis, Kamil Mishara, Ayana Siriwardene, Nimesh Vimukthi, Udara Jayasundara, Shashika Dulshan and Kalhara Senarathna.

A total of 600 players, consisting of 300 overseas and 300 Sri Lankan players featured in the ‘Player Draft,’ which was organized virtually with the participation of five franchise owners and the SLC officials. The draft consisted of 20 rounds, covering several player categories, such as ‘Local and Overseas Icon Player’, ‘Local and Overseas Diamond Player’, ‘Local and Overseas Gold Player’, and ‘Local and Overseas Classic Player’. And there was also the ‘Local Emerging’ and ‘Supplementary Local’ rounds focusing on selecting Sri Lanka’s young talent.

Speaking about the Lanka Premier League ‘Player Draft’, Mr Anil Mohan, Founder and CEO of Dubai-based production giant IPG, the official promoter of LPL, said, “It gives me immense pleasure to see so many international cricketing stars being part of various Lanka Premier League teams. No tournament can be successful without big stars and we are absolutely blessed to have some of the best cricket players from around the world in LPL. Each of the franchises have picked well-balanced sides which will make the second edition of the tournament very interesting.”

The Lanka Premier League 2021 is set to be held from 05th December 2021 to 23rd December 2021.