The success of Lanka Premier League (LPL) will play an important part in Sri Lanka’s upcoming International fixtures.
In its first week itself, the much talked about LPL has garnered worldwide attention and coverage in its first week itself. Andre Russell and Shahid Afridi, among the greatest players of T20 cricket, have, particularly, shown their brutal power hitting in the first few matches, which has increased the excitement for the reminder of the tournament. The first few matches recorded more than 100 million viewership around the globe and made an immediate impression
After the T20 extravaganza, Sri Lanka is scheduled to tour South Africa for two test match series, with the first test will be played on December 26. Then, in January next year, England is expected to arrive Sri Lanka for two test matches.
The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) believes that the success of LPL will play a significant role in applying ‘relaxed medical procedures’ for these International tours, in this difficult time of global pandemic.
“We are hoping that LPL will be played without Covid-19 related problems, so that we will have an edge over South Africa and England tour medical protocols” a top SLC official told Cricket Age.
In recent weeks, Sri Lanka has witnessed a surge in Covid-19 cases. However, the LPL is taking place in a bio secure bubble at just one ground – Habantota.
“If there are no Covid positive cases during LPL and quarantine procedures are a success, we can relax medical procedures for these tours, specially when players are transferred from bubble to bubble” the top SLC official added.
Sri Lanka last played a series against West Indies in February and all their international assignments have been put off due to the Covid-19 outbreak, which has paralyzed entire world since then. Due to the pandemic, Sri Lanka has already lost out on hosting a couple of high-profile cricket series. In March, England’s two-Test tour of Sri Lanka was postponed after the ECB requested for it due to the growing threat of the virus. Then, India’s tour of Sri Lanka was also called off, an assignment that could have seen India played three ODIs and three T20Is starting June end and continuing till July. Bangladesh’s three-Test tour of Sri Lanka was also postponed indefinitely, following a stalemate between the BCB and SLC over quarantine requirements, with weeks of negotiation failing to yield an agreement between the two boards.
