Dale Steyn to join Kandy Tuskers

By Bipin Dani

The Kandy Tuskers will sign South African fast bowler Dale Steyn for the upcoming Lanka Premier League (LPL) season. 

Steyn tweeted on Sunday: “See you soon Sri Lanka. I’ll be joining up with my team @KandyTuskers later this week. Should be fun to see old friends and compete in some good cricket!” 

It is a significant boost for the Kandy franchise, after both their marquee overseas players, Chris Gayle and Liam Plunkett, withdrew from the LPL. 

Meanwhile, the Dambulla Viiking franchise has yet to decide who will lead the team, with coach Owais Shah indicating that he had a few options to choose from. 

"We have a number of options in our squad to pick a leader from. That is always a good thing but we are yet to finalize who our captain will be. I want to have a couple of training sessions with guys before appointing the leader of our squad," the coach has said in an interview circulated by the team’s media manager. 

Dasun Shanaka is the team’s Icon Local player, and likely captain. 

"He is our icon player and we have not yet named him the captain. He may still be announced as captain but the final decision will be taken by the head coach in consultation with the team management," Roscoe Thattil the team’s media and communications manager told the Daily Mirror. 

Shanka was in the training squad with the national coaching staff and he along with other LPL players are on their way to Hambantota.

"Our players will begin training sessions from Monday," he added. 

The Jaffna Stallions meanwhile, will release their players’ jersey on Monday, the team’s Communication and Media Director Saranga Wijeyarathne told the Daily Mirror. 

The design of the Jaffna Stallions players jersey was made in the USA, it is learnt here.  

"The players' jerseys are manufactured in Sri Lanka", he further added.

Main photo: South Africa's Dale Styen confirmed his participation for the LPL (Getty Images)