How the LPL’s most successful franchise ended up being run by the league
An arrest on opening day, black tape over the sponsor logos and a terminated franchise agreement have left the four-time champions Jaffna Kings under the direct control of the Lanka Premier League.
Jul 26, 2026
The most successful franchise in Lanka Premier League history is now being run by the people who run the league. Nine days into the 2026 season, the Jaffna Kings have no private owners left, and the story of how that happened involves an arrest, a stack of unpaid salaries and a protest carried out with strips of black tape.
The arrest
On 17 July, hours before the tournament’s opening match, Sri Lanka Police’s Special Investigation Unit for the Prevention of Offences Relating to Sports arrested Manjot Kalra. Indian fans know the name. In 2018 he made an unbeaten 101 off 102 balls in the Under-19 World Cup final against Australia, batting alongside a teenage Shubman Gill, and India won by eight wickets. Eight years later he was a co-owner of the Jaffna Kings through a company called Sports Commune.
Investigators told a Colombo court that Kalra had approached players in the tournament and offered money to influence match outcomes, with a figure of 9.5 million Sri Lankan rupees cited in proceedings, roughly 30,000 US dollars. The court was told police hold recorded phone conversations and video material. Kalra was remanded until 31 July.
He denies all of it. A statement issued on his behalf said he is fully cooperating with the investigation and is confident the facts will clear his name. Nothing has been proven against him and the case has not been heard.
Black tape over the sponsor logos
The cricket carried on, badly. Jaffna lost the opener to Galle Gallants by 36 runs, and while that happened the financial side of the franchise was coming apart. Players and staff were not being paid. The second co-owner, Mayank Goel, is reported to have become uncontactable after arriving in Sri Lanka.
On 22 July the squad walked out with black tape covering the sponsor logos on their shirts. That is about as public as a professional cricketer’s protest ever gets, and it worked in the sense that it made the situation impossible to ignore. They won that match, beating Colombo Kaps by five runs.
The league takes over
Two days later, Innovative Production Group, which holds the LPL’s tournament rights, terminated Sports Commune’s franchise agreement in consultation with Sri Lanka Cricket. The stated reason was financial: the franchisee had not met its obligations under the agreement.
“While this was a difficult decision, our priority has always been to protect the integrity of the Lanka Premier League and ensure complete stability for our players, coaches, partners, and fans,” IPG chief executive Anil Mohan said.
All rights reverted to IPG, which together with SLC assumed the player, coaching and support staff contracts. Emergency funds cleared around 90 per cent of the outstanding salaries, with the rest to follow on the contracted schedule. The team keeps its name and its squad, and the schedule is unchanged. Bhanuka Rajapaksa still captains a side that no longer has anyone above it except the competition itself.
Where it leaves the cricket
Jaffna have won four of the five previous LPL titles, in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024. This season they sit fifth of five. Four matches have brought two wins and two defeats, four points, and a net run rate of minus 1.002 that is far worse than anyone else’s, dragged down by a 60-run hammering from Galle on 23 July when they were bowled out for 133.
The table is tight enough that none of it is fatal. Galle Gallants and Colombo Kaps lead on six points from five games, Kandy Royals and Dambulla Sixers have four each, and Jaffna have a game in hand on all of them. The top four go through to the playoffs, so in a five-team league the maths is forgiving. Their own Lizaad Williams sits second on the tournament wicket charts with 10 in four innings.
What is harder to measure is what a squad does when it spends a fortnight worrying about wages and reading about its owner in court reports. The LPL runs to a final at the R Premadasa Stadium on 8 August. Whether Jaffna are still playing by then may say less about their cricket than about how quickly a dressing room recovers from being told the people who signed its cheques no longer exist.