5 IPL stars who are taking part in LPL 2024 ft. Mustafizur Rahman
The Lanka Premier League 2024 (LPL) got underway on Monday, July 1, with Kandy Falcons beating Dambulla Sixers by six wickets at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele, near Kandy, Sri Lanka. This is the foremost franchise T20 league to be held on the island of Sri Lanka, and one that is bound to throw up a lot of talented cricketers for the selectors to consider for the national team.
Although this tournament is primarily for the development of local cricket in Lanka, it also welcomes a lot of overseas stars, who ply their trade in it and improve the standard and level of cricket being played.
Incidentally, a lot of players who played in the IPL earlier this year, are taking part in this tournament as well. In this listicle, we take a look at five IPL stars who are participating in LPL 2024:
#1 Maheesh Theekshana
Mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana, who is one of the most celebrated Sri Lankan players across the world, plies his trade for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL and is turning out for Galle Marvels in LPL 2024.
Theekshana played a few matches for CSK this season and was critical for them in patches. However, the Chennai-based franchise did not quite do well this season and were not able to qualify for the playoffs.
However, Theekshana was economical for the Yellows and did not concede runs at an exorbitant rate either on the slow, turning Chepauk pitches or away from home.
#2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Afghanistan wicketkeeper-opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who is one of the finest players in the world, will turn up for Colombo Strikers in LPL 2024; he represented the title-winning Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL this year.
KKR fans will fondly remember Gurbaz for the vital role he played for them at the top of the order in the playoffs when regular wicketkeeper-opener Phil Salt had to go back to his country.
Gurbaz comes to the LPL on the back of a fairly successful T20 World Cup campaign, in which he scored three half-centuries in Afghanistan's historic run into the semifinal, where they were beaten by South Africa.
#3 Mustafizur Rahman
Bangladesh left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman, who is enjoying a second wind of sorts after the fantastic IPL he had with Chennai Super Kings earlier this year, is turning up for Dambulla Sixers in the ongoing LPL.
Rahman did not have much success in the recently concluded T20 World Cup apart from a couple of three-wicket hauls he picked up against Sri Lanka and Nepal.
He will be hoping that the LPL signals a change in his form and that he is able to go back to his country with a lot of confidence under his belt.
In the first game that he played on Monday, however, he conceded 1-44 in the three overs he bowled in a losing cause against Kandy Falcons.
#4 Wanindu Hasaranga
Although Wanindu Hasaranga missed out on turning up for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2024 with a heel injury, he has starred for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the past and has been one of their most consistent performers.
In fact, he picked up his best bowling figures in the IPL and also the best for any bowler at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai when he took 5 for 18 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2022.
In LPL 2024, he is the captain of the Kandy Falcons and led them to their first win of the tournament in their maiden game on Monday, July 1. The ace leg-spinner will hope that he is able to lift the LPL trophy for this team this season.
#5 Vijayakanth Viyaskanth
Young leg-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, who was incidentally the replacement for Wanindu Hasaranga in SRH in the IPL earlier this year, plies his trade for Jaffna Kings in the LPL.
Viyaskanth is a crafty bowler and quickly became one of the most important players for the Eagles in the IPL in which they were beaten in the final by a marauding Kolkata Knight Riders.
The 22-year-old first rose to prominence in December 2020, when he became the youngest player to feature in the LPL for Jaffna Stallions at 18 years and 364 days.
One must note is that Viyaskanth is also the first player born and bred in Jaffna to appear in an internationally televised game.
Jaffna - on the northernmost tip of the island - is home to most of the Tamil minority population in Sri Lanka and was the hotbed of an arduous civil war that tore the country into shreds for three decades until 2009.