(Daily Mirror) - The fifth edition of the Lanka Premier League is set to kick off today (July 1) in Kandy with the defending champions Kandy Falcons taking on Dambulla Sixers in the opener in Pallekele. 

Out of five teams, three have rebranded and with players like Glenn Phillips on show, there is star attraction.

It's just been a day since the ICC Men's T20 World Cup got over and various franchise leagues are set to get into motion with the Lanka Premier League (LPL) taking the headstart. With players from Pakistan, New Zealand, Australia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, there is enough and more star quality on show apart from the Sri Lankan players. Kandy Falcons, one of the three teams rebranded and the defending champions will take on Dambulla Sixers in the opening fixture of the season on Monday, July 1.

All five teams will play each other twice before four teams will advance to the playoffs. The matches will be played across three venues in Kandy, Dambulla and Colombo.

Squads:-

• Galle Marvels

Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Lasith Croospulle, Niroshan Dikwella, Maheesh Theekshana, Tim Seifert, Alex Hales, Janith Liyanage, Dwaine Pretorius, Sahan Arachchige, Lahiru Kumara, Prabath Jayasuriya, Sean Williams, Zahoor Khan, Malsha Tharupathi, Sadisha Rajapaksa, Mohammed Shiraz, Isuru Udana, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Kavindu Nadeeshan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Chamindu Wijesinghe, Jeffrey Vandersay, Yuri Koththigoda.

• Jaffna Kings

Kusal Mendis, Avishka Fernando, Azmatullah Omarzai, Noor Ahmed, Charith Asalanka, Vijayakanth Vyaskanth, Fabian Allen, Dhananjaya de Silva, Rilee Rossouw, Pramod Madhushan, Jason Bedrendorff, Asitha Fernando, Vishad Randika, Lahiru Samarakoon, Eshan Malinga, Alex Ross, Ahan Wickramasinghe, Vanuja Sahan, Murvin Abinash, Arul Pragasam, Pathum Nissanka, Nishan Madushka, Teeshan Vithushan, Nisala Tharaka.

• Colombo Strikers

Chamika Karunaratne, Thisara Perera, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Nipun Dhananjaya, Shadab Khan, Glenn Phillips, Chamika Gunasekara, Dunith Wellalage, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Taskin Ahmed, Angelo Perera, Shevon Daniel, Binura Fernando, Garuka Sanketh, Matheesha Pathirana, Shehan Fernando, Kavin Bandara, Isitha Wijesundara, Muhammad Wasim, Alaah Ghazanfar.

• Dambulla Thunders

Dilshan Madushanka, Nuvan Thushara, Dushan Hemantha, Praveen Jayawickrama, Mustafizur Rahman, Ibrahim Zadran, Lahiru Udara, Akila Dhananjaya, Dhanushka Gunathilaka, Iftikhar Ahmed, Nuwanidu Fernando, Nuwan Pradeep, Ranesh Silva, Sohan de Livera, Hazratullah Zazai, Karim Janet, Asela Gunaratne, Lahiru Madushanka, Rusanda Gamage, Mithun Jayawickrama, Ayana Siriwardhana, Sonal Dinusha, Haider Ali, Santhush Gunathilake.

• Kandy Falcons

Wanindu Hasaranga, Angelo Mathews, Dushmantha Chameera, Kamindu Mendis, Andre Fletcher, Mohammed Harris, Kasun Rajitha, Ashen Bandara, Dinesh Chandimal, Dasun Shanaka, Ramesh Mendis, Dimuth Karunaratne, Mohammad Hasnain, Pavan Ratnayake, Chamath Gomez, Chaturanga de Silva, Kavindu Pathirathne, Lakshan Sandakan, Sammu Ashan, Azam Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Ali.