Sri Lanka umpire Kumar Dharmasena SNUBS IPL 2020 offer for officiating in SL-Ban Tests?

The Indian Premier League is arguably one of the biggest and most popular franchise-based T20 leagues in the world. Players, commentators and match officials alike, are eager to be a part of the cash-rich league. However, Sri Lanka-based umpire Kumar Dharmasena, who is one of the Elite Umpires of the International Cricket Council (ICC), recently declined to officiate in the upcoming IPL 2020, which is scheduled to take place in the UAE from September 19. The decision could come as a huge surprise as Dharmasena has been a regular feature in the competition.

ALSO READ | IPL 2020: Aakash Chopra says there will hardly be any fun as Lasith Malinga backs out

Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh 2020: Kumar Dharmasena not keen on umpiring in IPL 2020

Kumar Dharmasena is one of the best umpires in cricket at the moment, who has an enormous amount of experience in officiating at the international level. However, Kumar Dharmasena has snubbed the IPL 2020 for officiating as one of the on-field umpires during the Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh 2020 series, scheduled to commence on October 14. It is likely that Dharmasena's apprehensions to travel to the UAE due to COVID-19 and the fact that match officials from the home country of an international tour are allowed to officiate for the time-being, could have played a role in the decision to be near home.

ALSO READ | IPL 2020: What makes Sri Lanka maverick Lasith Malinga a death overs specialist?

Sources told Daily News that the ICC has already named Kumar Dharmasena as the Elite Umpire and Ranjan Madugalle as the Match Referee for all Sri Lankan home assignments until July 31, 2021. The source further said that the three-Test matches against Bangladesh would probably be shared by Kumar Dharmasena along with Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Raveendra Wimalasiri and Lyndon Hannibal with Prageeth Rambukwella as the reserve umpire.

The BCCI generally hires around six foreign Elite umpires during the IPL. It was expected that there would be more Elite umpires for this year’s edition of the cash-rich league since there is no international cricket happening during the IPL 2020 window. However, the board is still looking for umpires.

ALSO READ | Aakash Chopra prefers Jasprit Bumrah over Sri Lanka veteran Lasith Malinga as his super over bowler

Among the Elite umpires who have given their nod for the IPL 2020 are Chris Gaffaney from New Zealand, Richard Illingworth and Michael Gough from England. Apart from them, India’s Nitin Menon, who recently made it to the ICC Elite Panel, has also confirmed his availability for the lucrative league. Anil Chaudhary, C Shamshuddin, Virender Sharma and KN Ananthapadmanabhan and former Elite panel umpire S Ravi are also on the list of umpires for the IPL 2020.

Lasith Malinga opts out of the IPL 2020

However, Dharmasena is not the only Sri Lankan to skip the IPL 2020. Recently, Sri Lanka speedster Lasith Malinga had pulled out of the IPL 2020. Australian spearhead pacer James Pattinson has been signed by Mumbai Indians as a replacement for Lasith Malinga for the Dream11 IPL 2020 season. The development comes after Lasith Malinga had requested unavailability for the season due to personal reasons, i.e. to be with his family back home in Sri Lanka.

ALSO READ | Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga has kissed the ball 17,944 times: Fans react to Sachin Tendulkar's tweet

IMAGE COURTESY: TWITTER/ MILIDEZZZ2