Sangakkara Ready to go to the IPL
Sanga Speaks about IPL
Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kumar Sangakkara on Monday said that keeping the Sri Lankan players out of the Chennai matches in IPL 6 is not going to "curtail" the spirit of the game.
"Politics in this case has affected/restricted our presence, our belief to play in every part of India. But I don't think, sports and spirit of cricket is ever going to be curtailed by such prejudice," he said. The Sri Lankan great was reacting to a query if politics has affected the participation of Sri
Lankan players in Chennai.
"The build-up has been different and difficult for Sri Lankan players. But at the end of the day they are here to play IPL. The Sri Lankan Cricket Board has made it clear that no Sri Lankan players will be (playing) in Chennai," Sangakkara said.
He pointed out that "India is much more than Chennai and Tamil Nadu and I think the rest of India has been very welcoming of us". "We are here to play cricket representing Sri Lanka and also on behalf of our franchisee."
Reacting to another query, over former captain Arjuna Ranatunga's comment asking the Sri Lankan players to opt out of the tournament over the matter, Sangakkara said, "It's been a divisive issue back home as well. But this is not a nation vs nation issue.
"It's only a state... and I don't think it is the entire state (Tamil Nadu). So, we got to put it in right perspective." He further said, "Foreign policies are not going to be dictated by that and had it been a nation vs nation issue then Sri Lankan players would not have been here."
