Sri Lanka expresses interest for Indian players to feature in Lankan Premier League

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) intends to bring in Indian players to feature in their upcoming franchise-based league starting in August. Interestingly, Sri Lanka hosted a similar league in 2012, but its successive editions were scrapped due to sponsorship issues.

SLC cited out its good relationship with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), as a primary factor which would enable the Indian players to feature in the Lankan Premier League tournament.

Despite the fact that none of the Indian player feature in any other league except the Indian Premier League (IPL).

BCCI is reluctant to provide players with the No Objection Certificate (NOC) when it comes to featuring in foreign leagues.

Even, out of favour, Indian players such as Robin Uthappa, Yusuf Pathan and Manoj Tiwary have found it difficult to obtain the said certificate.

“These are still early stages and we need to put up the processes of conducting the tournament. One area that we will certainly look at is the possibility of attracting Indian players for the event. We have a very good relationship with the BCCI and they have always supported us and we are hopeful of getting their support to make the event a success,” commented the SLC official.

Due to the demand of foreign players in the successful Carribean Premier League, Sri Lanka decided to slot in the league after CPL to avoid an overlap.

“Even if we aren’t able to attract top Indian players, the participation of uncapped Indians will help us to market the event better. The demand for players from West Indies for franchise based tournaments is also quite high and that is the reason why we are hosting our event after the Caribbean Premier League,” continued the official according to Cricbuzz.

SLC intends to learn from past mistakes

Furthermore, it appears that the office-bearers within Sri Lankan Cricket are looking to rectify their mistake from the past. SLC is now looking at genuine sponsors for the event.

“In this region, we are the only country that is not playing a franchise-based tournament. We will go to the market and we will find who are the parties that are interested. Board is keen to not to repeat the mistakes of the past. We have to make sure that genuine sponsors are coming through,” quoted the President of SLC, Thilanga Sumathipala, during the launch of Nidhas Trophy tournament.

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