BIPIN DANI
Former South African captain Faf du Plessis will make its first appearance in the 2nd edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), it is confirmed.
According to the highly placed sources in the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board, he is set to play for the defending champion Jaffna Kings team, formerly known as Jaffna Stallions.
Interestingly, the 37-year-old middle order batsman recently played the Indian Premier League (IPL) final and won the Player of the Match award for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) team.
"du Plessis has not been hired after the IPL final. He was in negotiations with the authorities much earlier but the clearance and confirmation was received on the day when he was adjudged the Player of the Match award for his 86 runs, which included 10 boundaries (7 fours and three sixes)", one of the sources, speaking exclusively over the telephone from Colombo, said on Sunday morning.
"du Plessis, who has not been a member of the South Africa team in the World Cup will be the first overseas icon of the franchise team".
The authorities have asked all participating teams to decide on pre-draft players and the list of the last year retained players.
Jaffna team owners are likely to retain captain Thisara Perera and Thilina Kandamby as their coach.
The team is likely to have few Pakistani players in overseas lists.
"We are keen to retain Shoaib Malik, who has now been added to the Pakistan squad for the T-20 World Cup. His performance was good last year also", the source attached with the management, added.
Jaffna Kings are also likely to retain the local players including Wanindu Hasaranga.
