The IPL has never quite believed in the notion of not mixing sport and politics. The tournament has seldom sought to distance itself from wider geopolitical issues. This was first evidenced in 2009, with the decision to ban all Pakistan players from the league following the terrorist attacks on Mumbai the previous November by an Islamic group with strong ties to Pakistan.
Four years later, it was the turn of Sri Lankan players to face exclusion, this time from matches being played in Chennai. The decision was taken by the league’s governing council and was motivated by security concerns.
It followed in the aftermath of political tension in Sri Lanka over the treatment of ethnic Tamils. The state government of Tamil Nadu was prompted to demand that no players from Sri Lankan feature in matches played in the city.
Chennai is the mostly densely populated Tamil city in the world, and Tamil is the first language of nearly 77% of the people who live there. Many who live there have family ties in Sri Lanka, and there is a strong sense of cultural identity between the two communities.
Given these circumstances, it was felt that the participation of Sri Lankan players in matches played in Chennai would only aggravate an already tense situation and offend the sensibilities of local people.
Ironically enough, Chennai Super Kings, the local franchise, were hardly impacted by the ban. They had two Sri Lankans, Nuwan Kulasekara and Akila Dananjaya, on their roster that year, but they were just fringe members of their squad.
Franchises that were affected more were Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Pune Warriors India, who had stars like Lasith Malinga, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews in their ranks.
The Indian media was broadly critical of the decision. One leading editorial described it as chauvinism at its worst, while the IPL was blamed for allowing itself to become embroiled into the ethnic politics of Tamil Nadu. By next year, the ban had been lifted and the Sri Lankans returned to the city.