Sri Lanka give up early recall of IPL players

Lanka govt allows cricketers to continue playing IPL as long as they report to London on May 18

Lanka govt allows cricketers to continue playingu00a0IPL as long as they report to London on May 18

SL Sports Minister Aluthgamage

The war between Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) put players from both nations in a tangle. It's not just Lanka's players who have felt the wrath of impositions from their board. A couple of Indian players, who have signed on to participate in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League (SPL), could be asked to skip the event by BCCI, it is learnt. Over the last one week, SLC had come under pressure from Sports Ministry of Sri Lanka and asked its players to return home from the Indian Premier League (IPL) by May 5 ufffd 21 days ahead of their first Test against England at Cardiff. Finally, SLC allowed players to continue their IPL commitments to an extent and were asked to assemble in London on May 18. The IPL ends 10 days later.

No problem
On condition of anonymity, a top Sri Lankan official told MiD DAY: "There was never any problem with BCCI, or deadlines given to players. We were okay with players staying back till May 21. You must understand that SLC is not a private sports body like BCCI, but is run by the government. We cannot go against their decisions, unlike in India where BCCI runs its own ship."

Misunderstanding
A top BCCI official acknowledged that it was the intervention from Sri Lanka's government that caused a misunderstanding:u00a0 "SLC came under pressure from the ministry. There is no question of any bitter relations between the two boards. We knew it was an internal matter in Sri Lanka. Everything is settled now."