Why only a few Lankans at IPL ?
View(s):With the exception of Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga and Thisara Perera, Sri Lanka’s cricketers were largely left out of the major bidding at this year’s IPL player auction. Was it simply a case of the best players being picked or were there other less obvious reasons?
 There are much better T20 players than those from our country even though as a team we play well together. We have more orthodox players now. No-one is really a big hitter like a Jayasuriya or Kaluwitharana except for Thisara Perera, (Thillakaratne) Dilshan or Kusal (Janith). Thisara got selected but Dilshan is too old and Kusal has not proven himself. Mahela (Jayawardene) is a great player but is too inconsistent nowadays. - Amila Chathuranga (Student) |
 This is a politically-motivated decision. The IPL has a lot of politics and corruption. It is proof of how India is spoiling cricket. We went against them by not supporting their plans at the ICC so they are punishing us.- Amila Padeniya (Private sector employee) |
 We are putting forward very few young, exciting players who are getting big scores. Bowling-wise, in T20, Malinga is the best. So there is no real mystery why not many Sri Lankans were selected. And it is their league so they have every right to choose whom they want. - Anura Ranasinghe (Security guard) |
 The reasons behind this are political. We didn’t support India so they are not taking our players. The IPL is all about power and money and India is using it to gain more control over cricket. - Indunil Priyantha (Shop owner) |
 I think our cricket board is going too hard against India and as a result our boys are suffering. This is what has happened at the auction. We are losing through this because I think the board also gets money through the IPL. - Keerthi Guneratne (Cricket coach) |
 The reason could be because of our decision not to support the plans to give Australia, England and India more power. It could also be that the IPL team owners are promoting young talent now. But we shouldn’t be bothered about whether we get selected for the IPL or not. They didn’t want to come here for the SLPL so we should not go there for any of their tournaments. - Kosala Jayakody (Private sector employee) |
 The reason more Sri Lankans weren’t selected could be a political decision. We went against India at the ICC meeting so maybe this is their way of getting back at us. There is also the more simple explanation that our players usually don’t do well at the IPL. Even big hitters like Dilshan don’t really play their best. - Mohamed Nadir (Private sector employee) |
 The reason for not selecting Lankan players could be political. Who knows? Personally I’m glad because now our players can focus on upcoming tournaments like the Asia Cup and the World T20 Championship. - Ruchira Champika (Driver) |