Indian biz houses buy all seven SLPL franchisees

Colombo: Indian business enterprises showed keen interest in the inaugural edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League and bought all the seven contesting franchises on offer, even as the BCCI decided not to allow its players to participate in the Twenty20 league.

The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) had even last year prohibited its players from participating in the league, which forced the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to abort the opening season of the SLPL. While Wadhawan Holdings shelled out the highest bid -- USD 5.02 million -- for Wayamba, Number One Sports Consulting offered a bid of USD 4.98 million for Kandurata. The Uva and Ruhuna went to Success Sports and Pearl Overseas respectively for an amount of USD 4.6 million. Basnahira was bought by Indian Cricket Dundee at USD 4.33 million, while Uthura at USD 3.4 million went to Rudra Sports. Varun Beverages, meanwhile, spent USD 3.22 million for Nagenahira. The debut edition of the SLPL is scheduled to commence from August 10, with the final to be held on August 31. The matches will be played at capital city Colombo and the central province`s Pallekele. The franchises will be allowed a maximum of 18 players, including six foreign cricketers, for registration. However, a team can play only two foreigners in the playing eleven. The value of each player will be decided by SLC in the player draft to be held on July 5 and 6. PTI