The 2023 season of the Caribbean Premier League is just around the corner with the entertaining T20 tournament returning for its 12th edition. CPL consists of six teams which are built with some of the world’s best T20 stars, who have honed their skills in leagues around the world. But a few days before the CPL 2023 kicks off, another key T20 tournament - Lanka Premier League 2023 is set to begin in the island country of Sri Lanka.
The LPL 2023 will start on July 30 with the Babar Azam-led Colombo Stars taking the defending champions Jaffna Kings, who have the likes of David Miller, Thisara Perera, Chris Lynn and more in their ranks. But despite this star power, the Lankan Premier League doesn’t stand out as one of the top leagues on the cricketing circuit, unlike the Caribbean Premier League which has emerged as the go-to mid-year T20 tournament. For those who are intersted in watching LPL Live Score, follow the LPL official social handle, and web page as well.
There have been many reasons behind this divide which involves the organisation issues around the LPL and the performances of the Sri Lanka cricket team and SportsTiger aims to bring all of it in this article. The Lanka Premier League started as the Sri Lanka Premier League in 2011 but the tournament in its inaugural year itself failed to kick off and was rather postponed to 2012 after problems due to allegations of corruption by Sri Lanka Cricket. The Board of Control for Cricket in India had also decided to not allow Indian players to play in the tournament further adding to the problems of the tournament.
Then in 2012, the LPL was finally underway and was played in Colombo and Kandy from 11 to 31 August, 2012. The tournament was won by the Uva Next which had West Indian star Chris Gayle as their icon player. But after this season, the SLPL 2013 was cancelled after the franchises breached payment deadlines. Similarly, the 2014 season was also cancelled, with the announcement in February 2014, as the tournament failed to find meaningful sponsorships for the league.
After these two failed seasons, the tournament was never brought back until 2018 when the Sri Lanka Cricket Board floated the idea of a new league called the Lanka Premier League which was set to start in 2018. But like the SLPL, the first season of the LPL was postponed multiple times due to administrative issues within SLC.
One of the biggest reasons behind this call was the sacking of SLC President Thilanga Sumathipala, the man behind LPL, and his board after the expiration of their elected term. When no fresh elections were held to replace or reinstate the outgoing administrators, the Sri Lanka government stepped in to temporarily run cricket in the country, but they didn’t put a lot of focus on the tournament.
The Lankan Premier League started off in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in November when the Jaffna Stallions led by a Player of the Tournament performance by Wanindu Hasaranga won the title. Since then the LPL has continued in the island nation despite multiple political and economic crises. These issues coupled with the depleting performances of the national team could never break out on the cricketing circuit.
Now talking about the Caribbean Premier League, the tournament organised by Windies Cricket (Cricket West Indies) has consistently taken place without any cancellations and postponements so far. The tournament started off in 2013 and Jamaica Tallawahs, led by Chris Gayle, won the inaugural edition. Since then the Trinidad and Tobago franchise has emerged to be the most successful team with a tally of four titles. Follow CPL Live Scores and Updates now at SportsTiger.
Since its inception, the CPL has had the best T20 talent in the world with the likes of Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo and Sunil Narine being constant fixtures in each edition. Similarly, many global cricketing stars have made it a point to participate in the event.
Similarly, the T20 success of the West Indies national team which saw the Darren Sammy-led side win two T20 World Cups (in 2012 and 2016) helped maintain the popularity of CPL. Fast-forwarding to the last few years, the West Indian team has fallen off the from international cricket but their veteran cricketers have been reigning supreme in T20 leagues around the world, ensuring the continued quality in the Caribbean Premier League.
These players have also helped in keeping a lot of crowd interest in the tournament with stadiums for CPL always managing to be jam-packed. With this popularity and fandom, several powerhouses of world cricket have invested in the CPL. Franchises from the Indian Premier League have purchased teams in the tournament with Rajasthan Royals owning the Barbados franchise. Similarly, the Kolkata Knight Riders have taken over the Trinidad and Tobago franchise.
Hence, these factors like the smooth functioning of the tournament, and local and global interest, the Caribbean Premier League has managed to emerge as a more popular tournament than the turbulent Lankan Premier League.
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