Lanka Premier League 2022 re-slated for December, decision on re-draft pending

The Lanka Premier League finally looks to have a set of confirmed dates to hold its third season, having been originally scheduled to take place in August. The economic and political turmoil in the country saw Sri Lanka Cricket decide to postpone the tournament for later in the year just before it was about to begin. The promoters of the competition, IPG, have now announced the league will run from the 6th of December to the 23rd of December.

"It's my pleasure to announce that the LPL will be held from 6th to 23rd December," LPL tournament organiser Samantha Dodanwela was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

However, it remains to be seen whether a new draft will be carried out to allocate players to the five franchises since the players available in August won't all be able to take part in the new time slot. The other option that has been proposed is to only allow teams to re-draft players that won't be able to make it for the tournament instead of beginning from scratch.

"It is understood that the tournament organisers are deciding between two options: either holding a fresh draft, or going ahead with as many of the available players as possible with only the slots taken up by any unavailable foreign players being re-drafted," the report read.

Recently, the Asia Cup had to be moved to the United Arab Emirates from the island nation as well citing the same set of issues that led to the league's delay. Nevertheless, considering the successful tour by Australia in July, Sri Lanka Cricket can be expected to organize the tournament without any major hiccups.