King cricket, as the adage goes, could not have got any better for Sri Lanka, a country smitten by the cricket bug running well over a century of years when the second edition of Sri Lanka Cricket’s Lanka Premier League (LPL) as several international cricketers lined up along with local cricketers at the colourful opening ceremony that took on a riot of colour at the picturesque Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium at Sooriyawewa in Hambantota on Monday.

As the captains of the five teams lined up flanked by Sri Lanka Cricket’s President, Shammi Silva, the significance of the extravaganza, a version of the now populous Indian Premier League, could not have manifested any better than for many starry eyed youngsters drawn from as far as the country’s grass roots. Indeed, in that ushering, the LPL came full circle in all its splendour holding out the promise of a new chapter to Sri Lankan cricket in galvanising latent talent from the village level to whom cricket has become near religion.

The galloping impact the IPL has infused to the game that has created new stars is certainly the leaf that locals can take to mounting their dream careers to the next level.