India to provide special security for Sri Lankan cricketers playing IPL

The secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Nishantha Ranatunga says that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has assured that the safety of Sri Lankan cricketers playing Indian Premier League (IPL) will be guaranteed.

Following the recent spate of attacks against Sri Lankans in Tamil Nadu, SLC had requested in writing from Indian Cricket administration about the security arrangements for Sri Lankan players who wish to play IPL T20 tournament starting next month.

BCCI has told that special security will be provided to the matches in which, the Sri Lankan cricketers play, Ranatunga said.

He said that BCCI may not allow Sri Lankan players to play IPL matches scheduled to play in Chennai where pro-Eelam Tamil activists have been waging violent assaults against Sri Lankans.

Akila Dananjaya, Nuwan Kulasekara, Jeevan Mendis, Mahela Jayawardena, Sachithra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Janith Perera, Muttiah Muralitharan, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, and Thisara Perera are playing in the IPL tournament held from April 03- May 26.

Following attacks on Sri Lankan visitors including two Buddhist monks to the state of Tamil Nadu recently, the Sri Lankan government issued a travel advisory for the Sri Lankans against traveling to Tamil Nadu.

The national carrier SriLankan Airlines also slashed the flights in half to Chennai in Tamil Nadu.