Chennai Super Kings are set to drop their two Sri Lankan recruits – Nuwan Kulasekara and Akila Dhananjaya – for the entire sixth edition of the Indian Premier League starting on April 3.
It is seen as a compromise formula to appease the Tamil Nadu government, who are not in favour of Sri Lankan sportspersons playing in the state following the current political unrest.
One is given to understand that the IPL commission is not in a position to ask the franchises to drop their Sri Lankan players for matches to be played in Chennai, which also include two eliminators. However, two-times champions CSK, on their own, can drop their Lankan players.
Paceman Kulasekara is a vital cog in the CSK wheel, while Dhananjaya is an offspinner who was picked during this year’s auction. But the CSK bosses are ready to ‘sacrifice’ both the players for the full season so that the IPL matches stay in Chennai.
Their first home match is against Mumbai Indians on April 6 and preparations have already began. “It will be a logistical nightmare if the matches go out of Chennai at this stage,” an IPL insider said.
Apart from the CSK duo, leading Sri Lankan players like Kumar Sangakkara, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Matthews, Ajantha Mendis and Mahela Jayawardene are part of other franchises.
“Sangakkara is the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad while Malinga is the key bowler for Mumbai Indians. It’s not fair for the IPL commission to ask the teams to drop such players for crucial games in Chennai,” the source added.
Meanwhile, BCCI president N Srinivasan hoped that the issue will be sorted out ahead of the tournament. “These are operational matters. I don’t want to get into this issue.
The IMG (event manager) and the IPL will look at it and decide. The government of Tamil Nadu is capable of handling the law and order situation. I feel these issues will get sorted out,” Srinivasan said.
It’s understood that the BCCI president is likely to have a meeting with the state government representatives very soon over the issue.
