April 5, 2013, 8:20 pm

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Tamil Nadus Chief Minister Jayalalitha attributes her ban on Sri Lankan cricketers playing in her backyard in Chennai to the "barbaric acts" against Sri Lankan Tamils, alleged human rights violations and reportedly systematic killing of people of Tamil ethnicity in Sri Lanka. The Hindu newspaper in an editorial stated that the grounds on which the Chief Minister banned the Sri Lankan cricketers playing in Chennai is "Chauvinism at its worst", which should have been food for thought for our cricket administrators and the government.

The irony is that they turned a blind eye on the scathing attack on the government of Sri Lanka by Jayalalitha and both the government and the Board of Control for Cricket of Sri Lanka gave the green light to our money- hungry players to sign on with the IPL, for the April 2013 tournament. This, to say the least, is most shocking. The organizers of the IPL with scant respect for the Sri Lankan cricketers, succumbed to Jayalalitha’s banning of the Sri Lankan cricketers playing in Chennai. In this scenario, the former World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga’s clarion call for the Sri Lankan cricketers to boycott the IPL in toto, by showing their pride and dignity for their mother country, held no water. It fell on deaf ears. In their thirst for filthy lure, these elements sold their souls to the organizers of the IPL. Even if they opted out of the tournament, financially they were well covered, drawing a monthly salary of Rs. 4 million.

And with their bloated bank accounts and other investments, they were sitting pretty, yet like Oliver Twist they keep asking for more, greed personified. The new found Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews, has taken over the captaincy of Pune Warriors, while of the old brigade Mahela Jayawardene leads Delhi Dare Devils, his buddy Sanga, Sunriser Hyderabad. Also in the bandwagon are T. Dilshan and Ajantha Mendis. It these cricketers had any self- respect they should have insisted that they play at all venues, failing, we would pull out of the tournament. They failed to do so for reasons best known to them. The bottomline is that the SLC, players and the government ended with egg on their faces. That’s the crux of the matter.

By Rex Wijewardene

Dehiwela.

island.lk