India’s cricketers have been denied permission to take part in an inaugural Twenty20 league in Sri Lanka starting next month, a board official said yesterday.
As many as 12 players, including fast bowlers Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel, had sought permission to play in the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) to be staged in Colombo from July 19 to Aug. 4.
“We have decided that no Indian cricketer will be given permission to take part in the league as it is being organized by a private party based in Singapore,” the official said, asking not to be named. “The board’s policy does not allow players to take part in private tournaments.”
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had earlier said it had no problems with the league and that Indian players were free to take part as long as there was no conflict with international or domestic schedules.
The BCCI’s U-turn comes after media reports that the SLPL was being organized by the private Singapore-based Somerset Entertainment Ventures, which the reports say has links with Lalit Modi, the sacked former boss of the Indian Premier League.
“We have indications that Modi is behind the Lankan league. A lot of his men who worked in IPL are now involved in managing this league through Somerset Ventures,” the Times of India newspaper said, quoting a BCCI official.
Modi, who now lives in London, faces criminal charges including false accounting and accusations by the BCCI that more than US$106 million was misappropriated during his three-year tenure as IPL chairman, but he was quick to rubbish the speculation.
“It seems [the] best way to scuttle any plans is to say Lalit Modi is behind it,” Modi said on Twitter.
“Good to know that just mentioning my name can send a shiver down their spines,” Modi said.
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