Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera, Sri Lankan stars have received No Objection Certificates from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). The duo will be available to play for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the second phase of IPL 2021 until October 10. The 2021 edition of the IPL will resume on September 19 in the United Arab Emirates.
Royal Challengers Bangalore are one of the top contenders to win the league championship this year. However, RCB will have to play without their Sri Lankan stars if they qualify for the playoffs.
Wanindu Hasaranga And Dushmantha Chameera Won’t Play The Playoffs If RCB Qualifies
SLC has allowed Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera to be a part of the IPL only till October 10, the date on which Qualifier 1 is scheduled to happen. The two Sri Lankan players will leave RCB and join their national squad to play in the warm-up matches of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 after October 10.
“The ‘No Objection Certificate’ to the duo was issued for them to join the IPL teams starting from 15th September (following the completion of the South Africa Tour of Sri Lanka).
“The two players will join the Sri Lanka squad on 10th October 2021 to play in the two warm-up games prior to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers,” an official statement from SLC read.
The 24-year-old Wanindu Hasaranga was impressive in the three-match T20I series against India, taking seven wickets at an economy rate of 5.58, while 29-year-old Dushmantha Chameera was the second-highest wicket-taker in the series with four wickets at an economy rate of 5.25. Other replacements for RCB are Dushmantha Chameera for Daniel Sams, left-arm quick George Garton for Kane Richardson, and Tim David for New Zealand’s Finn Allen.
Wanindu Hasaranga And Dushmantha Chameera Hasn’t Played Even A Game In IPL Before And May Debut In IPL 2021
Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera could make their IPL debuts this year. While Wanindu Hasaranga received his first-ever IPL contract from RCB this year, Dushmantha Chameera was part of the Rajasthan Royals team in IPL 2018.
However, the Sri Lankan fast bowler did not get a single game. It will be interesting to see how the two Sri Lankan cricketers perform for the Virat Kohli-led outfit in IPL 2021.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals has brought in New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Glenn Phillips as a replacement for England’s Jofra Archer. The No.1 T20I bowler Tabraiz Shamsi has also joined the Royals as Andrew Tye’s replacement. On the other hand, Punjab Kings have roped in Nathan Ellis and Adil Rashid for the remainder of IPL 2021 while New Zealand veteran Tim Southee joined Kolkata Knight Riders.
As of 31 December 2018, the top nine ranked ICC Full Members, alongside hosts India, qualified directly for the 2021 tournament. Of those ten teams, the top eight ranked sides qualified for the Super 12s stage of the tournament. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh did not qualify for the Super 12s, instead of being placed in the group stage of the competition