Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara contends that despite Chennai not welcoming his team-mates to play in the IPL nothing will be able to spoil the championship which provides unprecedented earnings for players.
“Politics in this case has affected, restricted our presence, our belief to play in every part of India. But I don’t think, sports and spirit of cricket is ever going to be curtailed by such prejudice,” he was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying.
Sangakkara is the skipper of the Hyderabad Sunrise team.
The IPL governing council last week withdrew Sri Lankan players from all the Chennai matches of the IPL after Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa warned that Sri Lankan players will not be allowed to play in apparent retaliation for the deaths of Tamil civilians in the north and east of the country during the war with the Tigers.
Ten Sri Lankan cricketers have decided to take wing to contest the IPL after handing over what is being called “letters of consent” to their employer Sri Lanka Cricket.
The ten cricketers are Mahela Jayawardena, Sangakkara, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Jeewan Mendis, Sachithra Senanayake, Ajantha Mendis, Tillekaratne Dilshan, Kusal Perera and Lasith Malinga.
But two players, fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekera and spinner Akila Dhananjaya who signed up with the Chennai Super Kings in Tamil Nadu will not be making it.
Sri Lanka T-20 skipper Dinesh Chandimal decided against accepting an offer from the Delhi Daredevils saying he wanted to prepare for the IC Champions Trophy in July.
Questions have also been raised in Indian circles whether the Sri Lankans who have decided to play will be in the right frame of mind.
“The buildup has been different and difficult for Sri Lankan players. But at the end of the day they are here to play in the IPL. The Sri Lankan Cricket Board has made it clear that no Sri Lankan players will be (playing) in Chennai.
“India is much more than Chennai and Tamil Nadu and I think the rest of India has been very welcoming of us”, Sangakkara was further quoted as saying.
Sangakkara’s stance is totally different to that of former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga who preferred to see the players boycott the IPL than compromise and go after the money in it.
“It’s been a divisive issue back home as well. But this is not a nation versus nation issue.
“It’s only a state and I don’t think it is the entire state (Tamil Nadu). So, we got to put it in the right perspective.
“Foreign policies are not going to be dictated by that and had it been a nation versus nation issue then Sri Lankan players would not have been here” Sangakkara was quoted as saying by the PTI.
