Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will hold a meeting next week to decide whether it should make a request to the BCCI to release some of the under-performing Sri Lankan cricketers in the ongoing IPL so that they can partake in preparations for the Champions trophy. Nine of the ten Sri Lankan players playing in the IPL are part of Sri Lanka’s 15-member squad for the Champions trophy.
“We have been discussing this issue recently but have not taken a firm decision,” Nishantha Ranatunga, the SLC secretary, said.
Sri Lanka have arranged a limited-overs triangular tournament at Pallekele as preparation for the Champions trophy in England. The three teams in the preparatory tournament, Sri Lanka Rest (team selected for England), SLC Combined XI and Sri Lanka ‘A’, are due to play a total of seven fifty-over matches from May 12 to 20.
“We know a lot of them are not faring well in the IPL, and we are worried about their form,” Ranatunga said. “We thought it would be better for these players to return home and play in the 50-over triangular rather than sit on the bench without playing a match in the IPL.”
Former Sri Lanka captain and current captain of Delhi Daredevils Mahela Jayawardene is the only Sri Lanka player to have appeared in all the matches for his IPL team. The others have either been dropped from their respective sides due to poor form, to provide balance to the side, or simply were unable to play in Chennai due to political tensions. Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lanka captain, stepped down as the captain of Pune Warriors early this week.
Ajantha Mendis is the only Sri Lankan player in the IPL who is not part of the Champions trophy squad.
