New Delhi: Franchises with a strong Sri Lankan presence are slowly building up pressure on the Governing Council of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to shift their play-off and knockout matches out of Chennai.
Four franchises IANS spoke to were confident that the issue would be sorted out by the time the Twenty20 tournament reaches its business end. Their contention is that there should be a level playing field among the contestants when they play in Chennai, which will host 10 matches. The franchises feel the IPL will be robbed of good competition and it will be in a win-win situation for Chennai Super Kings is they are allowed to get away with it.
One senior official of a franchise, which will be led by a Sri Lankan, said the argument that the Super Kings, owned by Indian cricket board board president N. Srinivasan's company India Cements, also has two Sri Lankans would not wash as fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekara and leg-spinner Akila Dananjaya were not regular starters. "There is no level playing field in Chennai. How can we afford to miss our captain and other crucial players when we are playing a play-off or a knock-out match in Chennai," asked the official while speaking to IANS.
They franchises are sore that the IPL Governing Council did not consult them before taking such a momentous decision not to keep the Sri Lankan players out during the Chennai-leg. Thirteen Sri Lankans will be seen in action in the
10:09 PM, Mar 30, 2013
The defending IPL champions are believed to be targeting the three internationals at Sunday's auction in Chennai. ... 
Ajantha Mendis and Akila Dananjaya lead Sri Lanka's hopes while Pakistan will be relying on Saeed Ajmal and Raza Hasan. ... 
