Indian Cricket Board Ban Players from Participating in Sri Lankan Premier League Twenty20 Tournament

June 24, 2011

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has banned Indian players participating in the upcoming Sri Lankan Premier League (SLPL) Twenty20 competition.

The BCCI has also elected to classify the SLPL as a private tournament, despite the tournament receving official sanction from all other cricket boards. 

The winning team from the SLPL will represent Sri Lanka in this year’s Cricket Champions League, a Twenty20 event jointly-organised by the cricket boards of India, Australia and South Africa.

The BCCI refused to budge on its stance to ban its players from participating in the tournament, despite the Sri Lankan Cricket board offering bank guarantees to safeguard the Indian players’ contracts.

Sri Lanka sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said: “It is their decision and we cannot force them to change their position. We knew that India was not going to change its stand. That was the reason why we did not go to India. We made an attempt to convince them but the BCCI told us that it cannot reverse its stand. They seem to have some apprehensions over the tournament.”

The absence of Indian players will have a huge impact on the television revenue for the SLPL, and a broadcaster of the competition is yet to be finalised.

Twelve Indian players were due to take part in the 16-day tournament, which will run from July 19 to August 4.