Bisla, Russell among 5 overseas players to pull out of LPL

David Miller and David Malan are the other two cricketers who have withdrawn from the tournament scheduled to begin next month.

du Plessis, Miller and Malan have become unavailable because of the limited-overs series between South Africa and England, set to begin on November 27. Russell, meanwhile, has pulled out due to injury.

Bisla, the fifth player to exit the tournament, is not believed to have provided a reason though, the report further stated.

"The franchises that had these players will have to negotiate with other players to take their place," LPL director Ravin Wickramaratne told ESPNcricinfo.

Apart from Bisla, the other Indian who is scheduled to feature in the inaugural LPL edition is Manpreet Gony. In the draft held last week, Manpreet and Manvinder were picked by Colombo Kings, one of the five teams participating in the T20 league.

Gony, a right-arm medium pacer, played two ODIs for India - one against Hong Kong and the other against Bangladesh. Besides, the 36-year-old also played 44 games in the Indian Premier League. Bisla, a wicketkeeper-batsman, played 35 IPL matches, scoring 798 runs.

The tournament is scheduled to be played from November 21 to December 13 at two venues -- Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy and Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota. A total of 23 matches will be played over a period of 15 days.