Why few Sri Lankan players are playing in IPL post the retirement of Mahela and Sanga?

Till 2014,  Sri Lanka used to be one of the finest cricket teams in the world but the team started deteriorating once the ace players like Mahela, Sanga, and Muralitharan retired from International cricket, and if you look at the current state of Sri Lanka cricket who will have to play qualifiers against teams like Oman, Papua New Guinea, and Bangladesh to join top 8 teams to play T20 World Cup 2021 which is scheduled in UAE.

If you look at the last season of IPL, Isuru Udana was the lone Sri Lankan player who took part in the cash-rich league, and what is wrong that franchisees aren’t interested in Sri Lankan players anymore was very well explained by Legend Mahela Jayawardene who is also the current coach of Mumbai Indians stated that the some of the Sri Lankan players were on the radar to be picked but most of the franchise wanted to have fast bowlers and all-rounders and it’s sad that currently, we lack in that department.

“I think we still have the representation, so we’re happy (joking about him and Sangakkara being in the IPL). But yeah, a bit disappointed. I’m sure a few of the guys were on the radar, but I think it’s a tough place because you’re looking at 20-odd slots for the overseas players and the majority of the slots were for those fast bowlers and all-rounders, which I think Sri Lanka lacks a little bit of that,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Jayawardene as saying.

“But I’m sure the younger generation will come through and till then, it is disheartening but that is what it is. IPL is a place where you try and get the best players in world cricket to come and play. And it’s a good message for the Sri Lankan players to lift their game up, get competitive, so they could be part of the IPL on their merit,” he added.

However current Director of Cricket of Rajasthan Royals Kumar Sangakkara explained the other reason why there is no Sri Lankan players in the franchise is due to their unusual cricket calendar however in the second season of IPL, RCB has picked two players from the Island nation which includes Dushmantha Chameera and Wanindu Hasaranga but if you compare that with the numbers of overseas players from England and Australia it is quite less.

“The crucial area is the unpredictability of the touring program of SLC (Sri Lanka Cricket) where it is very hard to predict how long the players can be available and if they have to leave at some point during the IPL season. It does add a kind of volatility that a lot of franchises shy away from,” Sangakkara said.

“That’s one of the biggest reasons why you see a lack of Sri Lankan players in the IPL and definitely not because they don’t have the capability or the talent,” he added.

If Hasaranga and Chammera don’t deliver in the second leg of IPL they don’t have any more players in the cash-rich league to be picked for next season where two more teams will be added so new franchisees don’t want to spend their money on those players who are part of that team who is struggling Internationally at the moment.