The officials of both India and Sri Lanka cricket boards met on the sidelines of the ongoing ICC conference in Hong Kong to hold discussions on releasing the Indian cricketers for Sri Lanka Premier League again but they could not reach an agreement.
“We had a discussion with the BCCI asking them to release the players,” de Silva told cricinfo.
“Earlier they had sent a letter signed by Mr Srinivasan, the secretary of the BCCI, saying they are going to release the players for our tournament. So now that they have changed their minds and for that we are very sad and disappointed.
“Even our sports minister has written to their (India’s) sports minister (Ajay Maken) to try and intervene and solve this issue,” he added.
De Silva also disclosed that the BCCI said it could not allow the players to participate in the SLPL because of the involvement of Somerset Entertainment Ventures (SEV), a private company which won the marketing rights for the T20 league, but that explanation was confusing as IMG, a private company, is involved in the IPL.
More Pak cricketers
Meanwhile, SLC have started to rope in more Pakistani cricketers to off-set Indian players’ absence.
Sources said that the former captains — Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi — are now among the Pakistani cricketers who have signed contracts with the SLC for the league that starts from July 19.
The other Pakistani players included are all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, national team discards Fawad Alam and Shahzaib Hasan, upcoming batsman Asad Shafiq and opener Ahmed Shehzad.
Fast bowler Mohammad Irfan has also been roped in, while Umar Gul is said to have been given a contract as well. A PCB official said it had no issues allowing its players to go and play in the league as it meant extra earnings for them.
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