People in Tamil Nadu protest the participation of Sri Lankan players in IPL 2013

18 March, 2013

Angry at the arrest of Tamil fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy and the killing of Balachandran, son of LTTE supremo Prabhakaran allegedly by Lankan army, people in Tamil Nadu are protesting the presence of Sri Lankan players in this year's Indian Premier League (IPL), which is slated to begin next month.

One cricket lover, in this NNIS video, said: “My opinion about the Sri Lankan players being part of the IPL matches that are going to happen in Chennai and other places in India is like - see Tamil Nadu has passed a resolution in its assembly asking for economic sanctions on Sri Lanka that even includes the sanction on cultural and sports relationship with ‘genocidal’ Sri Lanka country. So, we don't see this as a positive note - the Sri Lankan players being part of the IPL matches in Chennai. It might be encouraging relationship with the genocidal country.”

A protester said, “We are from Tamil Nadu. We are not welcoming any Sri Lankan players to participate in any IPL match in India, at least in Tamil Nadu. We appeal to IPL owners and other franchises to cancel the contract of the IPL players.”

Thirteen Sri Lankan players are a part of this year’s IPL and the owners would not let go off their Lankan players so easily. Absence of the Sri Lankan players with just a fortnight to go would mean huge losses to all the IPL franchises.

Many IPL franchises have important players in their ranks and their unavailability would only make their teams weaker, in spite of the presence of a number of foreign players. Some players such as Lasith Malinga (Mumbai Indians), Kumar Sangakkara (Sunrise Hyderabad), Mahela Jayawardene (Delhi Daredevils) are irreplaceable players for their respective franchises. More so, Jayawardene and Sangakkara are captains of their respective sides.

Though, no decision has been taken by the government yet, but the situation does not look any better. It would not be surprising if the Indian government has to come into the picture and take a call, if the IPL governing body does not take any call soon.