Du Plessis, Russell and Gayle picked at LPL draft

Former South African captain Faf du Plessis and West Indians Andre Russell, Chris Gayle and Carlos Brathwaite were among the top international stars picked during the Lanka Premier League player draft conducted today.

They were among the nine marquee overseas players who were picked – a list that included England’s Dawid Malan and Liam Plunkett, South Africans David Miller and Colin Ingram, and former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi.

With the noticeable absence of top tier stars in the draft, conducted virtually, there was a strong contingent of players from Pakistan, England and South Africa in the list of available overseas talent.

Among the overseas players who went undrafted were Vernon Philander, Shai Hope, Sandeep Lamichiane, Mohammed Hafeez and Hasan Ali, with seasoned T20 players Daren Sammy, Ryan Ten Doeschate and Irfan Pathan also unpicked.

The Jaffna Stallions team, who had picked Thisara Perera as its icon player, used one of its two marquee overseas player slots to select all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga with the other for Malan.

The Stallions also picked veteran Shoaib Malik and Sri Lankan opener Avishka Fernando, with the option to sign two more overseas players at a base rate of US $ 15000 before November 1.

Du Plessis and Russell meanwhile were picked by the Colombo Kings franchise, who named Angelo Mathews as their icon player.

Their quota of six overseas players include relatively unknown Indian players Manpreet Singh Gony, Manvider Bisla and Canadian Ravinderpal Singh, with the option to sign one more international player at the same US $ 15000 base rate.

Big-hitting Gayle and fast-bowler Plunkett were selected by the Kandy Tuskers that picked Kusal Janith Perera as their icon player.

The Tuskers also differed two of their international picks for a later date – one at a base rate of US $ 40000 and the other at US $ 15000 – but added Pakistani fast-bowler Wahab Riaz to their squad along with all-rounders Asela Gunaratne, Seekkuge Prasanna and ambidextrous Kamindu Mendis.

Lasith Malinga, the icon player for the Galle Gladiators, will be joined by Ingram and Afridi, and has a formidable fast-bowling partner in Pakistan’s Mohammed Amir.

The Gladiators also signed two other Pakistani players, Sarfraz Ahmed and Azam Khan, and Afghanistan’s Hazathullah Zazai.

Also in the squad are Danushka Gunathilake, Bhanuka Rajapakse, Akila Dananjaya and Shehan Jayasuriya.

Dasun Shanaka was named as the icon player for the Dambulla Hawks franchise, in which Miller and Braithwaite were picked as marquee overseas players.

The team will be coached by former Sri Lanka batting coach Jon Lewis, and will see Niroshan Dickwella, Upul Tharanga and Irish batsman Paul Sterling make up an exciting batting line-up.

Dambulla too will have the option of strengthening their squad with two more overseas signings, one at US $ 40000 and the other at US $ 15000, having picked just four foreign players today.

One Sri Lankan player who was unfortunate to not be picked was Test and ODI captain Dimuth Karunaratne coming in at a base rate of US $ 25000, with one franchise in particular highlighting his lack of international T20 cricket as a reason for its aversion to picking him.

The LPL begins on November 21 and end on December 13, with the 23 matches being played over two venues, in Pallekele and Hambantota.