Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi and Irfan Pathan to play in this T20 League

Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi and Irfan Pathan have given their names for the second season of the Lanka Premier League, starting from December 5 in Colombo and Hambantota.

While Chris Gayle was a part of the West Indies squad in the ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE, Irfan and Afridi have retired from international cricket. Faf du Plessis, who was not in the South Africa squad for the T20 World Cup, will also be a part of the player draft.

Around 600 players, including 300 overseas players, will be part of the LPL 2021 player draft. There will be 5 city-based teams in LPL 2021 — Colombo, Dambulla, Galle, Jaffna and Kandy. A team can have a total of 20 players — 14 local and 6 overseas players in the team.

The draft will have 20 rounds, covering several categories, such as Icon Player, Diamond Player, ‘Local and Overseas Gold Player’, and ‘Local and Overseas Classic Player’. Local Emerging’ and ‘Supplementary Local’ rounds will focus on selecting the local talent available in Sri Lanka.