Pathum Nissanka Went Unsold in The First Round of the LPL 2024 Auction. However, he was sold to Jaffna later in the Acceleration Round!

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The 2024 edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) live auction took place recently. After the event, many posts were shared regarding some of the prominent Sri Lankan players who went unsold.

However, some of these posts were misleading and confused fans and stakeholders. They emphasize the need to verify facts from reliable sources to understand the actual outcomes of the auction.

Social Media Posts

Social media posts claim that Pathum Nissanka, the opening batsman for the Sri Lanka national T20 cricket team, went unsold in the recent Lanka Premier League (LPL) auction.

FB | Archived

Others also shared these posts and even questioned how Test match opening batsman Dimuth Karunaratne was sold while the T20 opener went unsold.

FB | Archived FB FB

We also noticed many posts mentioning that Pathum went unsold in the first round of the LPL auction. So, did one of the key opening batters of Sri Lanka’s T20 and ODI setup really go unsold in both rounds of the LPL 2024 auction?

Contrary to the social media posts, Pathum was sold to Jaffna Kings at his base price of USD 40,000. Here are the verified facts.

Explanation

Pathum Nissanka was not one of the 30 players pre-signed & retained before the LPL 2024 auction. Therefore, Pathum Nissanka was indeed a part of the recent LPL auction. Here is a complete list of who went in for the LPL auction on 21^st May, which shows Pathum Nissanka’s name.

Out of the 420 cricketers registered for the LPL auction, 154 were Sri Lankan. Each player was assigned a number, and Pathum Nissanka’s assigned number was 1.

Auction Listing and Base Price: Pathum Nissanka’s name was called at the initial parts of the auction, and he was listed with a base price of 40,000 USD.

Initial Round: Surprisingly, during the first round of the auction, no franchise was keen on acquiring the top opening batsman into their squad, as seen below.

The LPL Player Auction 2024 auctioneer Charu Sharma also showed his amazement at this move; however, he mentioned how Pathum or any other player listed for the acceleration round (second round) could be picked up later.

Second Round (Acceleration Round) Selection: Five hours later, in the second round of the auction, the Jaffna Kings team acquired Nissanka at his base price of 40,000 USD.

Lack of Competition: Although other teams, such as Dambulla and Galle, had the opportunity to bid, they did not compete for Nissanka, as his base price did not increase. Here is the post from the LPL official FB page, stating that “Pathum Nissanka has been acquired by Jaffna Kings.”

Jaffna Kings Listed Nissanka in their squad.

The post from Jaffna Kings, including Pathum into their squad for LPL 2024, is seen below.

Pathum’s name was included in all key cricketing websites that reported the LPL 2024 auction. The complete list of players sold at LPL 2024 action is seen here, here, and here.

Events Post the Auction draws headlines:

Since the live auction, the Lanka Premier League has drawn headlines in the cricketing fraternity. Many expressed mixed views about the proceedings of the LPL auction, questioning how some of the world-renowned players went unsold while some of the retired players attracted high price tags. One of the key local players who went unsold was the attacking batsman Kusal Janith Perera.

Furthermore, a few days after the auction, question marks were raised regarding the tournament itself following the arrest of the co-owner of the Dambulla franchise. However, despite these events, Sri Lanka Cricket has announced that the Lanka Premier League confirms Season 5 will go ahead as scheduled. LPL 2024 will commence soon after the T20 World Cup in early July.

Also Read: Sri Lanka Cricket Announces T20 World Cup Squad Amid Social Media Speculation

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Conclusion:

The social media posts claiming that Pathum Nissanka was left unsold in the LPL 2024 auction are misleading. While Nissanka was left unsold during the first round, the Jaffna Kings team ultimately acquired him in the auction's second round (accelerated round) at his base price of USD 40,000. The posts fail to account for the complete sequence of events during the auction process, presenting a misleading narrative.