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MUMBAI: The cash-strapped Sri Lanka Cricket board (SLC) has
set a floor price of $3 million for the T20 league franchises,
a paltry amount compared to the IPL.
When
IPL launched in 2008, it had fixed a minimum price of $50
million, which later zoomed to $225 million when two teams
were added in 2010.
The
SLC said it will lease out seven teams for a period of seven
years and has set in motion the process of identifying franchises
for the Sri Lanka Premier League. Bids are invited for the
T20 league which has been formed on the lines of cash rich
Indian Premier League.
The last day to submit bids is 25 June, while the names of
successful bidders will be announced the same day. Interested
entities can bid for a maximum of three franchises.
The
first edition of SLPL Twenty20 will feature seven provincial
teams who will play a total of 24 matches at two venues Colombo
and Pallekele. The SLPL will be played from 10-31 August before
the ICC Twenty20 World Cup which will be held in Sri Lanka.
Each
team will be allowed to have only 18 players in their squad
with a compulsory ruling of no more than six overseas players
in each squad.
However,
teams can field only four overseas players in the playing
eleven, while the remaining seven players will be Sri Lankan's
with one player mandatorily being an under-21 cricketer.
The
players will be selected through draft process with players
being divided into two groups. The first group will consist
of players from Sri Lanka while the second group will include
foreign players.
It
was the Indian cricket board's reluctance to allow Indian
players in the SLPL that led to the postponement of the league
last year.
However,
the SLC has made it clear that it will go ahead with the league
even without Indian players. "We will go ahead with the
tournament with or without Indian players," SLC Secretary
Nishantha Ranatunga said.
The
Sri Lankan board has got the commitment of most full member
countries, who have committed to release their players for
the tournament, he added.
Somerset
Entertainment Ventures is commercial rights holder for the
tournament.
All
the matches of SLPL will be televised live by Carlton Sports
in Sri Lanka. CSN is owned by family members of Sri Lankan
president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
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