The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has postponed the sixth edition of Lanka Premier League (LPL) in order to focus on the expansion work before the early next year’s T20 World Cup and to manage players workload, Cricket Age Exclusively learns.
The 2026 men’s T20 World Cup is likely to be played between February 7 and March 8. The tournament will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka and will comprise 20 teams.
The matches will be played in at least five venues in India and two in Sri Lanka, which includes R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. It has learnt that the International Cricket Council (ICC) has asked SLC to expend the broadcasting room at R. Premadasa.
Accordingly, the decision to postpone LPL was taken at an Executive Committee (ExCo) meeting at SLC headquarter Yesterday (October 21).
“It was decided to postpone it and play after the world cup due to the expansion work in the broadcasting room as per ICC requirements. At the same time, Players workload before the all important T20 World Cup was also considered, as we are confident that the team will put up a good show” a top SLC official confirmed to Cricket Age.
The format will be the same as the 2024 men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA, where the 20 teams were divided into four groups of five each, with the top two from each group qualifying for the Super Eight round, where once again the eight teams were divided into two groups of four. The top two from each Super Eight group progressed to the semi-finals. India are the reigning champions, having beaten South Africa in the final in Barbados.
