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IPL 2021 will take place over the next two months across six venues in India. Unfortunately, the tournament will not feature a single player from the Sri Lankan cricket team. Last season, Isuru Udana was the only Sri Lankan star to play in the IPL. However, the all-rounder went unsold at this year's auction.
Sri Lankan legends Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene are part of the backroom staff of the Rajasthan Royals and the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2021. But the two veterans decided against bidding for any current Sri Lankan star at the auction.
They have given their respective opinions on why none of the players from the island country made it to the league. While Sangakkara believed SLC's tour program's unpredictability cost their players an IPL deal, Jayawardene felt the Sri Lankan players did not fit any franchise's criteria.
While there will be no Sri Lankan stars in IPL 2021, seven players from the Asian island nation have won the IPL before. Here's a look at those seven names.
7. Lasith Malinga - IPL 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019
Lasith Malinga is the most successful Sri Lankan player in IPL history. The right-arm pacer is a former Purple Cap winner. He also retired at the top of the all-time wicket-takers' list.
Malinga represented the Mumbai Indians throughout his IPL career. He helped MI win their fourth championship by taking Shardul Thakur's wicket off the final ball of his career.
The Mumbai Indians won their first title in 2013, a season where Malinga scalped 20 wickets at an economy rate of 7.16. He took 24 wickets to help MI win in 2015. Two seasons later, Malinga could only scalp 11 wickets. Still, his team clinched the trophy.
6. Thisara Perera - IPL 2010
Not many fans would know that Thisara Perera got a chance to put his hands on the IPL trophy in 2010 in his debut season itself. The Chennai Super Kings picked up the Sri Lankan all-rounder at the auction before the third IPL season.
Perera could earn a place in the CSK playing XI only one time. He did not have a good outing with the ball, while he did not bat in his debut game. Eventually, the Super Kings released him from their squad ahead of the next season. However, Perera had become an IPL winner by then.
5. Nuwan Kulasekara - IPL 2011
Nuwan Kulasekara is another Sri Lankan player who won the IPL trophy in his first season with the Chennai Super Kings. The right-arm medium pacer earned his maiden IPL contract with the Chennai-based franchise at the 2011 mega auction.
Kulasekara stayed with the team for two seasons. He played six matches in those two tournaments, picking up five wickets at an economy rate of 7.06. CSK included him in their playing XI only once in 2011, but Kulasekara got the golden chance of lifting the IPL trophy that year.
4. Suraj Randiv - IPL 2011
Suraj Randiv became a part of the Chennai Super Kings squad in the 2011 IPL season. The right-arm off-spinner represented the MS Dhoni-led outfit eight times that year, accounting for six wickets at a bowling average of 37.17.
Randiv received another deal from the franchise after he won the title with them in 2011. However, after that, no IPL franchise signed the off-spinner. Right now, he works as a bus driver in Australia.
3. Muttiah Muralitharan - IPL 2010
Two Sri Lankan players were a part of the Chennai Super Kings team that lifted the IPL trophy for the first time in 2010. As mentioned before, Thisara Perera won the championship in his debut season that year.
Apart from Perera, legendary off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was also a Chennai Super Kings squad member then. Muralitharan joined CSK in the inaugural season and played for them till 2010.
The Sri Lankan spinner scalped 15 wickets in 12 matches for the Super Kings in the 2010 edition of IPL. He later played for the Kochi Tuskers Kerala and the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
2. Asela Gunaratne - IPL 2017
Asela Gunaratne is one of those few players who has never played an IPL match, but he can call himself an IPL winner. The Mumbai Indians acquired Gunaratne's services at the 2017 auction.
Since the Mumbai-based franchise had many big names in their squad, they could not include Asela Gunaratne in their playing XI even once. Mumbai claimed their third IPL title in 2017, with Gunaratne a part of the squad.
A mega-auction followed the 2017 IPL season. Unfortunately, Gunaratne could not secure a deal at the auction and has been away from the league since 2017.
1. Nuwan Zoysa - IPL 2009
Nuwan Zoysa was the first player from his country to call himself an IPL champion. The Rajasthan Royals did not have a single Sri Lankan cricketer in their squad during their inaugural season.
In 2009, the tournament moved to South Africa, where the Deccan Chargers triumphed under Adam Gilchrist's leadership. Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Zoysa was a part of the IPL squad, even though he did not get a game that year.
Zoysa received only three caps in his entire IPL career. The left-arm pacer bagged two wickets, but his economy rate was nine runs per over.
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