Cricket Masala

Four IPL franchises are in a holding pattern right now, waiting to find out if their Sri Lankan players will actually show up for the season. The reason isn’t injury or travel restrictions or contract disputes. It’s fitness tests.

Sri Lanka Cricket said this week that no player gets a no-objection certificate for franchise leagues until they pass what the board is calling a “physical performance test.” That means Wanindu Hasaranga, Nuwan Thushara and Matheesha Pathirana — all picked up in the IPL auction — can’t leave the country to play until they prove they’re fit enough.

Some of them might not be ready in time.

Hasaranga was supposed to join Lucknow Super Giants. Thushara was headed to Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Pathirana was set for Kolkata Knight Riders. All three are now stuck in Sri Lanka, either recovering from injuries or waiting to take tests they haven’t passed yet.

Three players have already gotten through. Dushmantha Chameera and Pathum Nissanka — both going to Delhi Capitals — passed the test and got their NOCs. Kamindu Mendis did too, who’s joining Sunrisers Hyderabad. They’re good to go.

But the others are in limbo.

Thushara’s situation? The simplest.

He’s healthy, but he hasn’t taken the physical performance test yet. Once he does, and assuming he passes, he’ll get his clearance. The board spelled that out in its statement — his NOC is “subject to the outcome” of the test.

The other two are trickier. Hasaranga and Pathirana are both coming back from injuries they picked up around the T20 World Cup last year. They’re still in rehab.

They haven’t even been able to take the test yet. Why? They’re not fit enough to take a fitness test, which is its own kind of problem.

Pathirana’s timeline was already tight, and he’s been dealing with a hamstring problem while Kolkata Knight Riders were told weeks ago that he wouldn’t be available until mid-April at the earliest. Now there’s another layer of uncertainty — even when he’s recovered, he’ll need to pass Sri Lanka’s test before he can leave.

The IPL starts March 28. That gives Thushara maybe a week to get tested and cleared if he wants to be there for the opening rounds. For the injured trio, the math is worse. They’ve got to finish rehab, pass the test, and then get to India in time to be useful.

This isn’t SLC being randomly bureaucratic. The fitness push is coming from the new national selection committee, led by Pramodya Wickramasinghe, and it’s got backing from Sri Lanka’s Sports Ministry. The thinking is straightforward — Sri Lanka doesn’t have another international assignment until late May, so this stretch from February through April is a rare window to actually raise fitness standards across the player pool. The board is running an eight-week training program for all nationally contracted players. It’s called “specialized physical training” meant to get players ready for upcoming international cricket. The fitness test is part of that program. And the rule is simple — if you don’t pass the test, you don’t play. Not in the IPL, not in domestic cricket, not anywhere.

The test itself apparently includes a 2km sprint among other pieces. That’s not an unusual benchmark; plenty of cricket boards use timed runs to measure aerobic fitness — but it’s apparently strict enough that players who’ve been away from structured training are having trouble meeting the standard.

The Pakistan Cricket Board uses a near-identical 2km run as part of its fitness protocol, but sets the passing time at around 8 minutes 30 seconds for fast bowlers and 8 minutes 45 seconds for batsmen. In 2023, three Pakistani players failed that benchmark during a pre-tour camp and were dropped right away from selection until they retested successfully two weeks later. The fact that Sri Lankan players with recent international experience are struggling suggest the timing standards might be tighter than PCB’s, or the enforcement is simply catching players who let conditioning slip during the off-season.

What’s odd is the timing and the enforcement. Most boards set fitness benchmarks, sure. But they don’t usually withhold NOCs for franchise leagues based on those benchmarks, especially when there’s no national duty conflict. Sri Lanka doesn’t play until late May. The IPL wraps up by then. There’s no overlap. But SLC is treating this training block like it’s sacred. The message seems to be that if you’re contracted to play for Sri Lanka, your first obligation is to meet the board’s fitness standards, even if the next international match is months away. Franchise cricket comes second.

For IPL teams, this is a headache. Big time! Franchises plan their squads around the players they auction. They’ve built strategies assuming these guys will be available. Now they’re scrambling to figure out backup plans or manage without key overseas spots filled.

Lucknow Super Giants were counting on Hasaranga as a frontline spinner and middle-order hitter. Royal Challengers Bengaluru picked Thushara as a death-bowling specialist. Kolkata Knight Riders wanted Pathirana’s variations and pace.

None of those plans are guaranteed anymore.

And it’s not like the franchises can just replace them easily. The auction’s done. Squads are locked. If a Sri Lankan player doesn’t arrive, teams have to either reshuffle their overseas combinations or promote uncapped domestic players into roles they might not be ready for.

The players caught in the middle are in a tough spot too. They’ve signed IPL contracts worth real money — Hasaranga’s deal with Lucknow is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Missing matches means missing paychecks. But they can’t just ignore their national board. Without a NOC, they’re not going anywhere.

This also sets a precedent. If Sri Lanka Cricket can tie franchise league participation to fitness benchmarks during non-international windows, other boards might follow. Imagine if the BCCI or Cricket Australia or the ECB started doing the same thing — requiring players to pass tests before allowing them to play in overseas leagues, even when there’s no scheduling conflict.

It could get messy fast.

For now, the immediate question is whether these players get cleared in time. Thushara’s probably got the best shot — he’s healthy, just needs to take the test. If he knocks it out this week, he could be in India by early April and ready for RCB’s first few matches.

Hasaranga and Pathirana are racing the calendar. They’ve got to finish rehab, prove they’re fit enough to take the test, actually take the test, pass it, and then travel. Every day that slips pushes them closer to missing big chunks of the IPL season.

Meanwhile, the three players who’ve already cleared the test are packing their bags. They’re ready. Chameera and Nissanka are headed to Delhi Capitals, Mendis to Sunrisers Hyderabad, and they done what the board asked, passed the benchmarks, and now they’re free to go earn their IPL money.

The contrast is stark. Same board, same policy, wildly different outcomes depending on if you stayed healthy and kept your fitness up during the offseason.

Sri Lanka Cricket’s statement was careful to frame this as routine. The physical performance test is called a “mandatory” and “standard process” to check fitness standards. Timing matters here — right before the IPL. The stakes — maybe costing players lucrative contracts — make it feel anything but routine. Whether this actually raises Sri Lanka’s fitness standards long-term is an open question. Eight weeks of specialised training might help. Or it might just breed resentment among players who see the board blocking their earning potential during a period when they’re not even needed for national duty.