The 2026 season was Jaffna Kings' sixth appearance in the Lanka Premier League (LPL). They were one of the five cricket teams that competed in the 2026 LPL. The team was captained by Bhanuka Rajapaksa and coached by Thilina Kandamby. The team signed four players before the draft and fifteen players in the draft.
Jaffna Kings finished in first place in the league stage and advanced to Qualifier 1 in the playoffs. They won Qualifier 1 against Galle Gallants to qualify for their fifth final. However, in the final, they lost to Galle Gallants for the first time. Kamil Mishara scored the most runs (411) while Lizaad Williams took the most wickets (11) for Jaffna in the 2026 season.
Pre-season The 2026 Lanka Premier League was the 6th edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league, organised by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). The tournament featured five teams competing in 24 matches from 17 July to 8 August 2026.
Jaffna Kings are the most successful franchise in the league with 4 LPL titles. They were also the defending champions, having won their fourth title the previous season. In October 2025, the SLC terminated Lyca Mobile's ownership of the franchise for failing to fulfill contractual obligations. The franchise was then purchased by Sports Commune, led by Indian sports entrepreneurs Manjot Kalra and Mayank Goel.
On 17 July 2026, hours before the opening match of the season, Manjot Kalra, co-owner of the franchise via Sports Commune, was arrested by Sri Lanka's Special Investigation Unit (SIU) for the Prevention of Offences Relating to Sports in connection with an anti-corruption investigation. On 23 July, Sports Commune's ownership of the franchise was terminated. To stabilize the franchise, the SLC and the league's commercial rights holder, the IPG Group, assumed full operational control of the team and took over all personnel contracts. On 4 August, a day before the playoffs, the franchise was acquired by Anchor Sports, a Stockholm-based sports group co-owned by entrepreneur Nagendra Siddoutam and former Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan.
Players' draft
In January 2026, the SLC announced that instead of an auction, a players' draft would be held ahead of the 2026 season. The players' draft was originally scheduled for 22 March 2026, but was postponed to 1 June 2026. Each team was allowed to sign two overseas and two domestic players before the draft. In the draft, each team was required to sign at least 14 players, with a maximum of 16 players under 10 categories, including 5 overseas players in 4 categories. One overseas player had to be from an associate country, while two domestic players had to be under the age of 23.
+ Pre-draft direct signings Category Domestic Overseas Icon Bhanuka Rajapaksa Shakib Al Hasan Star Dunith Wellalage Taskin Ahmed + Players' draft signings Category Domestic Overseas Platinum Avishka Fernando David Wiese Gold Dilshan Madushanka Ibrahim Zadran Kamil Mishara rowspan="2" Traveen Mathew Classic Mohamed Shiraz Sandeep Lamichhane Chamindu Wickramasinghe Lizaad Williams Nuwanidu Fernando Emerging U23 Kugathas Mathulan rowspan="2" Praveen Manisha Associate Star Dipendra Singh Airee Optional Gold Nishan Madushka rowspan="2" Optional Classic
Squad Players with international caps as of the start of the 2026 LPL are listed in bold. Ages are as of . Withdrawn players are indicated by a dagger symbol () and placed at the bottom of the table.
+ Jaffna Kings squad for the 2026 Lanka Premier League Name Nationality Birth date Batting style Bowling style Category Notes 6 Mohamed Shiraz Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast Domestic Classic 9 Dunith Wellalage Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Domestic Star 16 Zahoor Khan Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast Associate Star Overseas; replacement 22 Chamindu Wickramasinghe Left-handed Right-arm medium-fast Domestic Classic 24 Nishan Madushka Right-handed Optional Gold 25 Sandeep Lamichhane Right-handed Right-arm leg break Overseas Classic Overseas 27 Nuwanidu Fernando Right-handed Right-arm off break Domestic Classic 28 Avishka Fernando Right-handed Right-arm off break Domestic Platinum 36 Khawaja Nafay Right-handed Right-arm off break Overseas Gold Overseas; replacement 42 Kamil Mishara Left-handed Right-arm off break Domestic Gold 46 Praveen Maneesha Right-handed Right-arm leg break Emerging U23 50 Lizaad Williams Left-handed Right-arm medium-fast Overseas Classic Overseas 54 Bhanuka Rajapaksa Left-handed Right-arm medium-fast Domestic Icon Captain 75 Shakib Al Hasan Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Overseas Icon Overseas 77 Tawhid Hridoy Right-handed Right-arm off break Overseas Star Overseas; replacement 79 Traveen Mathew Right-handed Right-arm off break Domestic Gold 96 David Wiese Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast Overseas Platinum Overseas 98 Dilshan Madushanka Right-handed Left-arm medium-fast Domestic Gold Kugathas Mathulan Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast Emerging U23 3 Taskin Ahmed Left-handed Right-arm fast Overseas Star Overseas; withdrawn 18 Ibrahim Zadran Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast Overseas Gold Overseas; withdrawn 45 Dipendra Singh Airee Right-handed Right-arm off break Associate Star Overseas; withdrawn
Support staff Position Name Head coach Thilina Kandamby Bowling coach Dharshana Gamage Fielding coach Manoj Abayawickrama Sources:
League stage Jaffna Kings began their season with a loss to Galle Gallants. They won their next two matches against Dambulla Sixers and Colombo Kaps, but lost to Galle again. They won their next three matches against Kandy Royals, Colombo and Kandy again. Their last league stage match of the season against Dambulla was cancelled midway due to rain, and both teams were awarded a point each. They finished the stage in first place with eleven points and advanced to Qualifier 1 in the playoffs.
Points table
League progression
Fixtures
Playoffs Bracket
Qualifier 1
Final
Statistics At the LPL end of season awards, Jaffna players Kamil Mishara and Traveen Mathew were recognised as player of the tournament and emerging player of the tournament, respectively.
+ Most runs Runs Player 411 Kamil Mishara 232 Avishka Fernando 162 Dunith Wellalage 157 Chamindu Wickramasinghe 156 Ibrahim Zadran + Most wickets Wickets Player 16 Lizaad Williams 14 Dunith Wellalage Dilshan Madushanka 11 Shakib Al Hasan 9 2 players
References
External links