Board is not aware of Hasaranga and Chameera's IPL signings, neither have they sought our permission: SLC Secretary

Mohan de Silva, Sri Lanka Cricket secretary, on 22nd August (Sunday), informed that both Wanindu Hasanranga and Dushmantha Chameera are yet to take official permission from the Sri Lanka Cricket about their participation in the second leg of the tournament, which gets underway from September 19 in the United Arab Emirates.

Both Hasaranga and Chameera have been roped by IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore as replacements players, although De Silva further told that the national board is not aware of their signings.

“I don’t know, I have to check. We are under lockdown till the end of the month,” de Silva told Cricbuzz. He further said that the board will make a decision on the players only when the application for no-objection certificates is made before them. “We have not taken any decision yet as they will have to apply for the NOCs. We are not aware of these players being selected, neither have they sought permission from us.”

The Sri Lanka duo was a part of the IPL auction earlier this year, however, they could not attract buyers back then. Their entry into the RCB camp comes in the backdrop of the exits of the New Zealand pair of Fin Allen and Scott Kuggeleijn who have been named in New Zealand’s squad for the upcoming Bangladesh tour, while Australian trio of Adam Zampa, Daniel Sams and Kane Richardson have opted out the UAE leg of the 2021 edition.

Wanindu Hasaranga has been on our radar for long: Mike Hesson

Hasaranga was recently named the Player of the Series against India in the home T20I series which the hosts won 2-1, while his teammate Chameera managed to impress with his exploits too, bagging four wickets at a brilliant economy rate of 5.25.

“We’ve got an extensive scouting program and Wanindu’s certainly been on our radar for a long time,” Mike Hesson said on Saturday.

“In fact, when we needed a replacement last IPL, he was certainly a person we called upon. It’s certainly not a recency factor, we’re not surprised by his success in recent times, he’s been doing it for a while. As I said he’s a multi-skilled cricketer, he offers us an option to bat a little bit deeper if we choose to play the overseas spinner alongside Chahal.

“Chameera also, so another [from] Sri Lankan contingent. He’s bowling extremely well at the moment. He’s got genuine pace and his white-ball game has developed significantly.”

RCB will depart to UAE via chartered flight from Bangalore on 29th August.