Indian cricketers unlikely for SLPL

The SLPL has been touted as the Emerald Island’s answer to the Indian Premier League even if on a much smaller scale, and had identified at least 11 Indians to compete in the competition, including the World Cup’s player of the tournament Yuvraj Singh and off-spinner R Ashwin.

Along the sidelines of a meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s Tours, Programme and Fixtures Committee on Saturday, the participation of Indian players in the SLPL was discussed and after much deliberation, the Board has decided that no Indian will play in the competition, it has been learnt.

For starters, the SLPL is bang in the middle of India’s Test tour of England, with the first Test starting at Lord’s on July 21. That will ensure that the cream will be unavailable for participation. Additionally, a further 16 players will take part in the Emerging Players Tournament in Townsville, Australia. The revamped tournament, which has moved away from the shorter format and will witness three-day matches between the ‘A’ teams of Australia, England, South Africa and India will run from August 1 to 13.

What has also not gone down too well with the BCCI, it is learnt, is that the contracts for the SLPL aren’t being handed down by Sri Lanka Cricket but by the event managing company, which could make the resolution of any potential dispute extremely contentious.

The Tours, Programme and Fixtures Committee meeting decided, among other things, that with Mumbai likely to be hit by rain during that period, no Champions League match will be hosted at the Wankhede stadium even though Mumbai Indians have qualified for the competition. The Champions League will be held between September 19 and October 6.

Instead, Mumbai’s complement of matches are to go to the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, what with Kolkata Knight Riders being one of four teams that made the play-offs of IPL IV.

Chennai and Bangalore, the home bases of the Super Kings and the Royal Challengers respectively, will be the other centres that will stage the Champions League. The Eden is set to host six matches, including at least two in the September 19-21 qualifying phase.