By BIPIN DANI
All five teams in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) will have at least 1 or 2 Under-19 players and the management of these teams will have to ensure that they play "almost" every match.
This was revealed by Charith Senanayake, the new chairman of the technical committee.
Speaking exclusively over the telephone from Colombo, the former left-handed opener said, "it is one of my suggestions and the management have agreed in principle to implement".
"With the U-19 World Cup in sight, I have included this in my suggestion-list".
Senanayake's other suggestions are : 1) To increase the number of players a franchise can retain from 2 -6 with a certain criteria and categories. (2) Not to restrict the number of players in the draft and give maximum opportunity to domestic players
"Hopefully, these will be accommodated along with the rules and conditions already in place. Will do what’s best as the league gets underway shortly", Senanayake, who also served the Sri Lankan team as manager in the past, added.
When asked about the appointment and his role as technical committee chairman Senanayake was first thankful to SLC for the opportunity but mentioned that the format of the tournament and the rules were already formulated and in place by the time of his appointment. However, upon discussing a few technical points, Tournament Director Mr. Ravin Wickramaratne agreed to consider the possibility of adopting the following favorably.
The other members of the Technical Committee are : Shane Fernando, Vinothan John and Tyron Hirantha Wijewardena.
