Atapattu welcomes Lanka’s ICL u-turn

Atapattu welcomes Lanka’s ICL u-turn

Angered Indian board to take up the issue with ICC

While Sri Lanka’s ICL cricketers welcomed Sri Lanka Cricket’s decision to lift the domestic cricket ban on them, the Indian cricket board is reportedly irked at Sri Lanka’s change of stance.
Former Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu who will play for the Delhi Giants in the upcoming ICL season said that the SLC’s decision has sent a strong massage to other boards that have imposed similar bans to reconsider their decision.
“It’s a very strong message to other boards that have imposed similar bans,” Atapattu was quoted by the Cricinfo.
The former skipper vehemently criticized, India’s instance on imposing bans on players playing in the ‘rebel league’ and urged all the respective national bodies including India to follow Sri Lanka.
“It’s a message that the game is not ruled by any single body, and nobody should try to rule the game. I hope that other boards, including India, also let all their ICL players play in all forms of cricket. The players in India have taken a brave stand by joining ICL; they are very young and talented. Why not give them a chance now?”
Atapattu, 37, who also represents ICL’s World XI, was among the five who are now free to play domestic cricket again after the one-year-old ban was lifted by an interim committee of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), headed by Arjuna Ranatunga. The others who benefited from the decision, taken last week, were Russel Arnold, Upul Chandana, Avishka Gunawardene and Saman Jayantha who will now be able to play in the domestic league but are not eligible for national selection.
“We are hopeful this will soon lead to a situation where our cricketers can play for their country and choose between the ICL and IPL. Right now, the situation is grossly unfair where some of our players play in IPL while the others sit at home and watch it on TV. It’s not fair that only players who play in the IPL can play for Sri Lanka. The ICL is a similar tournament, with a similar format, and only the name is different. So why is there this discrimination,” Atapattu was quoted saying.
Angered by the decision of their Sri Lankan counterpart, Indian cricket board who earlier persuaded other cricket boards to ban ICL players said that they would take up the matter with the International Cricket Council (ICC).
“We have come to know about it (lifting of ban). It is very strange. We have not spoken to the Sri Lankan cricket board till now. But will take up this issue with the ICC,” IANS quoted, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah as saying.
The decision comes close on the heels of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) banning 13 players for 10-years after they signed up with the ICL.
The previous interim committee of the SLC, led by controversial Jayantha Dharmadasa, had imposed a total ban on all national cricketers playing the ICL tournament, preventing them from taking part in all forms of cricket and cricket related activities locally and internationally.
Meanwhile ICL officials hailed Sri Lanka cricket board decision to lift a domestic ban on five players and an umpire who signed up with them last year. “We are happy that Sri Lanka Cricket has taken a positive step towards the game,” ICL business head Himanshu Mody was quoted saying.

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