Wanindu Hasaranga will not participate in IPL 2024. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has informed BCCI that the leg-spinner is injured and cannot take part in the league for Sunrisers Hyderabad this season. Last heard, the franchise is believed to be looking for a replacement.

According to sources familiar with the situation, SLC has written to the BCCI stating that the 26-year-old has to undergo rehabilitation and rest to heal his left ankle and will not be available for the season. He is believed to have been advised precautionary rest by an expert in Dubai whom he consulted a few days back.

“I believe so,” the player’s manager, Shyam, told Cricbuzz. “Sri Lanka Cricket has written to the BCCI informing them about his unavailability. He went to Dubai for medical advice and stayed there for three days. Given the current situation, the expert’s advice is that he should rest rather than participate in the IPL this season.”

A few days ago, the manager told this website that Hasaranga would definitely show up for SRH.

Hasaranga’s withdrawal raises some obvious questions about foreign players registering for the auction and pulling out later for inexplicable reasons. In this case, the SLC, which has authorised his withdrawal, had picked him for a Test series in Bangladesh which started on the very day the IPL had kicked off - on March 22.

Curiously, had Hasaranga not been plucked out of retirement and picked for the Test side, he would have been unable to lead Sri Lanka in the first four games of the T20 World Cup in June due to disciplinary action by the ICC.

As previously written by this website there is a perception in the IPL that some foreign players skip the league if they don’t get a good price in the auction. Hasaranga’s previous price was INR 10.75 crores and after RCB had released him, his auction price plummeted to the base price of INR 1.5 crores at which SRH had purchased for this season. His manager has denied that the withdrawal has anything to do with the auction value.

Source: Cricbuzz
-Agencies