No place for Sri Lankan players at Indian show | Sunday Observer

No place for Sri Lankan players at Indian show

21 February, 2021
Isuru Udana the last at IPL
Isuru Udana the last at IPL

The poor standards of Sri Lankan cricketers have been exposed so much that not one of them has been bought by any franchise team for the forthcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) starting in April.

Isuru Udana who was the only Sri Lankan to feature in the IPL last year has also been released by the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Former Sri Lanka captains Mahela Jayawardena is the coach of Mumbai Indians and Kumar Sangakkara is the director of cricket operations of the Rajasthan Royal.

“I’m sure a few of the guys were on the radar, but I think it’s a tough place because you’re looking at 20-odd slots for the overseas players and a majority of the slots were for those fast bowlers and allrounders and I think Sri Lanka lacks a little bit of that,” said Jayawardena.

“And it’s a good message for the Sri Lankan players to lift their game up, get competitive, so they could be part of the IPL on their merit,” added Jayawardane.

Meanwhile, Sangakkara had a slightly different version. He said the unpredictability of Sri Lanka Cricket’s tour programme was one of the reasons for the absence of Sri Lankan players.

“If they have to leave at some point during the IPL season, it kind of adds a bit of volatility that franchises want to shy away from.

“That’s why you see no Sri Lankan players at this IPL; definitely not because they don’t have the capability,” said Sangakkara.

Comments