SLPL - Will it be a Hit ? Or a Miss ?

So Sri Lanka have also finally decided to join the bandwagon by having an International T20 tournament. The announcement came late last week where Sri Lanka Cricket told that they are going to allow international players to participate in this year's  inter-provincial T20 tournament similar to the IPL and it will be called Sri Lanka Premier League or SLPL.


In a way , its a good step by SLC to initiate such a thing since every other country is allowing international players to participate in their domestic T20 cups  ( ex: Australia with their Big Bash, England with their T20 Cup and also India with the much popular IPL).  This will surely provide exposure to our local players so they could learn some vital tips  by playing with players such as Shahid Afridi , Chris Gayle . Kieron Pollard , Daniel Vettori etc.

But there are some questions that should be asked. Why was it organized in the months of July and August? those are months which are rain heavy months in Sri Lanka so there would be no guarantee that the tournament would not get affected by rain.  Also why have SLC included all the matches to be played in Colombo ?   If you want to give exposure to the sport and to the players it should have been played in the outstation stadiums too; specially since we have some great new grounds in Pallekelle and Suriyawewa.   The Colombo crowd already feels hectic with the ongoing IPL matches shown everyday and every hour. So the SLC missed a trick  by not giving any matches to the outstation people to come , watch and enjoy.

Certainly this tournament won't be big as the IPL, But SLC has taken  a good step in organizing such a thing. It will help Sri Lanka to get the best team possible for the Champions League T20 and if we win it  the prize money would be something awesome to develop local cricket in Sri Lanka. Also, with the players not being auctioned and SLC deciding which team will get which players is also a positive move that will prevent young local cricketers from going away chasing money. 

Mind you.. as an Indian Cricket analyst aptly stated, T20 won't guarantee that you will get an international cap. It takes a lot of effort and talent to make your national team so hopefully,  the SLC selectors and the players will remember this.

Overall,  it will be an interesting tournament and hopefully the weather gods will stay away.  Things like Indian and Pakistani players playing together in one team.  Malinga bowling to Chris Gayle where Afridi is his captain,  Bhanuka Rajapakse hitting a  sweet cover drive to a wide delivery bowled by Shoaib Akhtar.. those things happen only in this kind of tournaments so missing those moments will certainly be a miss.

Will the SLPL  be a Hit or a Miss is something that cannot be explained right now. But, with everything going smooth so far  and  considering Sri Lanka's success in co hosting a magnificent World Cup,  It will be "worth the watch" .

Cheers !!

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