Sri Lankan cricketers, who were always in great demand in previous IPL seasons, are no more hot properties for team owners.
The Lankans are supposed to tour Ireland just before their England series, which could affect their availability for the eight-week league.
The other worry is that since no Sri Lankan player would be allowed to play in Chennai due to ongoing political tension (over the treatment of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka), the IPL teams are more inclined towards new stars from New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.
Some Lankan stars are also not in best of form.
Former Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara is not even in the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s wish-list for the upcoming season. Some Lankans would be bought at the auction for sure, but they won’t fetch the kind of money which they used to draw earlier.
Two Lankan cricketers on the wish list of the teams are Lasith Malinga and current Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews.
“There are others who could be bought by the team owners but they are certainly not hot properties like earlier,” a source close to the development told TOI.
