Irfan Pathan and Martin Guptill interested in taking part in Lanka Premier League: Sources 

New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill and former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan are interested in participating in the Lanka Premier League, if reports by Daily News, a Sri Lanka-based news agency are to be believed.

The report also suggested that there a total of 143 international players would be available for selection for the tournament, which is slated to begin next month.

"There are about 143 overseas players in the list who are very keen to play in this tournament and now it is up to the respective franchises to select these cricketers. We have also asked the local clubs to nominate two players for this event and so there would be a total of 48 top domestic players from the 24 Premier Clubs who would be eligible to represent the four franchises," the source revealed.

A top official from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) also told Daily News that there are 80 SLC-contracted national players who will also be strong contenders for joining the franchises.

"In addition, we have a total 80 national players who are currently contracted with SLC and they will also be strong contenders to make it to the final squad. Some of the Premier Clubs have also named young promising players in the Under-23 and Under-19 category but altogether it is up to the four franchises to make a final decision in picking their squad," the official said.

The Lanka Premier League will have five teams

The inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League will consist of five franchises and the will be played at the R. Premadasa Stadium, the Dambulla Stadium, Pallekele Stadium and the Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium.

The five teams in the Lanka Premier League will represent Sri Lankan cities, namely Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna.

In the recently conducted meeting of the Sri Lanka Cricket Executive Committee, an official approval was granted to schedule the first edition of the Lanka Premier League from 28th August to 20th September.