Players' dilemma: IPL riches or country first

Sri Lanka cricket seems to be hurtling from one crisis to another since the defeat in the World Cup final to India, most of which has been self-inflicted.

There was no need to press the panic button after finishing runner-up for the second time in succession, although the manner of their defeat to hosts India raised many eye brows.

It is natural for Sri Lankan fans to feel disappointed and there were wild allegations that the players had deliberately performed below par in the final.

This does not in any way take the gloss from India being deservedly crowned World Champions for the second time, having fairly and squarely dumped four-time winners Australia and arch rivals Pakistan en route to the final.

But instead of licking their wounds and graciously accepting defeat, Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksha fired a harmless-looking salvo initially at a reception to honour the World Cup runners-up.

His statement that “20 million people stepped back to make 1.2 billion people happy” nearly caused a diplomatic storm across the Palk Straits.

There were unfounded reports that top officials in the government were looking for a scapegoat to deflect blame for the team’s failure to win the World Cup despite spending lavishly on building two new stadiums and renovating another.

They found a convenient bunny in Sangakkara, who had in any case privately made up his mind to quit as national captain after the World Cup.

However, Sangakkara’s abrupt announcement triggered a chain reaction paving the way for the country’s Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage to take tough decisions.

He moved swiftly to appoint a new selection committee headed by former skipper Duleep Mendis and give a lifeline to the interim committee of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) headed by D.S. de Silva.

Mendis was a surprise choice because SLC had not given him an extension as Chief Executive Officer just months before the World Cup despite his vast experience. He is expected to take over as manager of the Sri Lanka team in addition to being chairman of selectors, a dual role he played with distinction when Arjuna Ranatunga led Sri Lanka to victory in the 1996 World Cup, according to informed sources.

But in his eagerness to clean up the Augean stables and take a clean break from the past as the country celebrates the national new year, Sri Lanka’s Sports Minister has decided to take the bull by the horns in tackling the thorny club versus country conflict which affects professionals in almost every sport worldwide.

His latest directive to players to give priority to preparations for next month’s England tour instead of playing in the cash-rich Indian Premier League came like a bolt from the blue - though not quite strange.

But it has certainly put the SLC and the 11 players contracted to play in the IPL, among them two captains Sangakkara (Deccan Chargers) and Mahela Jayawardena (Kochi Tuskers), in a quandary because the England tour begins on May 14 while the IPL goes on until May 28.

Sri Lankan players had reportedly reached an agreement with SLC that they would take part in the England tour once their IPL commitments were over, according to sources, unlike the Australians who had told the IPL organisers that they would be available only after their current tour of Bangladesh ends,

Either the top government sports official was ignorant of this detail or has put the onus on the players to choose between country and IPL by asking them to return for training on May 5, if selected to go on the tour.

Sri Lanka Cricket who also benefit financially from the sums players earn in IPL, stand to lose as much as the players if they opt to return early because the Board of Control for Cricket in India is likely to penalise them heavily for breach of contract.

It is like a double-edged sword particularly for a player like Tillakaratne Dilshan who is the front runner to replace Sangakkara as captain. Minister Aluthgamage has clearly thrown the gauntlet at the players who have yet to react on this directive.

“I am hoping to make this the beginning of a new era in cricket and in sports in Sri Lanka. We will start preparing for the next World Cup and we need to have a good captain. We have to train at least five to six new players. Considering all these factors, I think whatever happened during the past week happened for the betterment of cricket and nobody should see it as a crisis,” he told ‘Daily FT’ newspaper in an interview.

Will the players be willing to forego IPL riches for the sake of national duty is the 64 million dollar question.

Related articles:

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.