While many fear that a clash between Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), and IPL bound national cricketers is looming large ahead of next year’s tour of England, a prominent Sri Lankan cricketer believes that SLC will not dare to take on the might of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Sri Lanka leave for England next year on the 10th of May, and although the IPL dates for the next season have not been released yet, the recent IPL tournaments have gone on till end May.
Sri Lanka would have finished the one off T-20 and as many as four ODIs against England by May 31st next year.
“Every player will be present when the board wants them to be present, because our national contracts supersede IPL contracts. We are contractually bound to make ourselves available, but it will be interesting to see how SLC will deal with the matter,” a prominent cricketer told the The Island.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India is one of the richest sports bodies in the world and cricket officials all over the world fear to be on the wrong side of Indian bigwigs.
In 2011, Sri Lanka’s national cricketers arrived in England late, even missing a warm-up game, as they were more focused on honouring their IPL contracts.
Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage had wanted the players selected for the tour to arrive in Colombo in advance of the series. But SLC bigwigs in that instance had not informed the minister that they had granted the players the okay to arrive late in England.
The minister was adamant that the players should return home ahead of the tour, but the players allegedly used underhand tactics by getting the Indian board to pressurize their Sri Lankan counterparts.
The senior cricketer feels that this time, while SLC puts up a bold face outwardly, the board will give in to pressure from India.
In 2009, SLC was forced to call off a tour of England, as it clashed with the IPL and later leaked documents from the board revealed that BCCI bigwigs had threatened ‘the slow death for Sri Lankan cricket’ and had demanded the removal of Arjuna Ranatunga as Board Chairman.
While three Sri Lankan players captained IPL teams at the start of last season, a similar demand is expected for the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews, for the upcoming IPL. That would mean that IPL franchises will want their captains to remain in India as long as they can.
“You have to be pragmatic here. SLC is running on empty coffers at the moment. It is the Indian board that gives us that financial stability. Look at what is happening to South Africa now. You don’t want a similar situation in Sri Lanka by antagonizing the Indian board.”
When asked how SLC could tackle the tricky situation it faces, the cricketer said; “You have to be on a good financial footing. Tours from India brings us the most revenue. Unfortunately, the board gets only half of that money, as the rest of the money ends up in the wrong pockets. With such men showing direction, we are doomed,” the player said.
In 2009, the television rights for India’s ODI tour of Sri Lanka was sold below the market price to a blacklisted company which had defaulted payments to SLC on previous instances. True to form, the company refused to pay a portion of the contractually agreed amount. The crooks who fixed up the deal are still at large.
