Colombo.
The tournament is scheduled from December 12 to 22, featuring six franchise teams and showcasing local and international players in cricket’s fastest format. Each franchise will be selecting up to 17 players and minimum 15 players for their squads.
With the player registration deadline closing on November 1 and the direct player signing deadline on November 5, each franchise must sign six players directly from each category: one Icon player, one Platinum player, one Category A player from Sri Lanka, and one from overseas, similarly from category B, allowing franchises to secure one local and one overseas player.
The draft will have 11 rounds, with the first round decided by a manual draw and the remaining rounds determined by a randomizer for pick orders. The randomizer uses an algorithm to ensure all franchises have an equal weight.
In the first two rounds, two top-tier players—one Sri Lankan and one from overseas—will be selected, each at a price of US$ 35,000 (category ‘A’). The third and fourth rounds will see another 2 players, again one Sri Lankan and one from overseas, picked at US$ 20,000 each (category ‘B’).
In rounds 5 to 7, franchises can choose two Sri Lankan players and one overseas player, each priced at US$ 10,000 (Category ‘C’). Round 8 will focus on selecting a Sri Lankan emerging player for US$ 2,500, while round 9 will select an emerging player from either Zimbabwe or the West Indies, also for US$ 2,500.