Sri Lankan number one domestic cricket tournament National Super League (NSL) four day cricket tournament conducted by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will commence today in Colombo two venues SSC grounds and R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium.
The Colombo team led by Kusal Mendis will meet the Kandy team led by Niroshan Dikwella at SSC grounds while the Dambulla team led by Kamindu Mendis will meet the Galle team led by Ramesh Mendis in their game which is scheduled to be held at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium.
Sahan Arachchige will lead today’s Kandy game as their captain Dickwella and Chamika Karunaratne the vice-captain are involved in an overseas franchise tournament. The Jaffna team will lead by Dhananjaya de Silva is resting up during the opening week but they have to play against Dambulla from 26 to 29 at the SSC grounds. Kandy will meet Galle on the same dates at the P. Sara Oval grounds.
The semi-finals will be held from February 23 to 26 at R. Premadasa International cricket stadium and the final will be held on March 2-5 at Galle International Cricket Stadium.
Meanwhile, all leading cricketers are expected to take part in this NSL four-day tournament while the five-member Provincial Selection Committee got the responsibility to select the players for each Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Jaffna and Dambulla teams based on the performances of the last Major clubs three day cricket tournament. Nallaih Devarajan, Ajith Ekanayake, Duminda Wickramasinghe, Suwanji Madanayake, and Chandana Guruge are the five Provincial Selection Committee members appointed by SLC and they are assisting the National Selection Committee headed by Promodya Wickramasinghe. Meanwhile, a few talented players have not continued to play for the NSL tournament as they are already named for Sri Lanka ’A’ team squad for the upcoming England series which will commence on January 27.
Few National players missed early matches of the NSL four-day cricket tournament as they were already involved with the overseas franchise tournaments (ICL t-20 tournament in UAE and South African league as well as Bangladesh Premier League). When contacted the senior official of the SLC said SLC already permitted the few National players to take part in overseas tournaments without any interruption of their National duties. Most of the white ball tournament players are taking part in the franchise tournaments overseas as they all got permission earlier and this is a four-day NSL tournament (red ball format) and SLC considers white ball players to give priority to international franchises to get more exposure. We are mostly considered red ball format players for NSL while white ball players also will join this NSL tournament in between the tournament. Sri Lankan Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne who was named for the vice-captaincy of the Colombo team is already injured and will miss a few NSL matches and be subjected to play the later part of the tourney before the next New Zealand Test series which is the main focus after this NSL. Last year Kandy team coached by Malinda Warnapaura emerged as champions defeating Jaffna in the final.
Team captains, vice captains, and officials of the NSL four-day cricket tournament:
Colombo – Kusal Mendis (Capt), Dimuth Karunaratne (V. Capt), Priyantha Udayaratne (Manager), Ruwin Pieris(Head coach), Saman Jayantha and Nishantha Weerasinghe (Assist coaches)
Jaffna – Dhananjaya de Silva (Capt), Sadeera Samarawickrama(V. Capt), Shezard Nizar (Manager), Thilina Kandamby (Head coach), Dhammika Sudharshana Assist Head coach), Ravindra Pushpakumara and Thamara Abeyratne(Asst coaches )
Kandy – Niroshan Dikwella(Capt), Chamika Karunaratne (V. Capt), Shamseer Jaleel (Manager), Malinda Warnapura (Head coach) Manoj Abeywickrama (Asst Head coach), Ian Daniel and Sarath Jayawardena (Assist coaches)
Galle – Ramesh Mendis (Capt), Sangeeth Cooray (V. Capt) Dilran Abeysekera (Manager), Ruwan Kalpage(Head coach), Shanuka Dissanayake and Indika de Seram (Asst coaches)
Dambulla – Kamindu Mendis (Capt), Minod Bhanuka(V. Capt), Suranjith Dharmasena(Manager), Avishka Gunawardena(Head coach), Upul Chandana (Assist Head coach), Sajeewa Weerakoon, Tharanga Dhammika and Pasan Wanasinghe (Asst coaches)
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