March 25, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 16, 1429

COLOMBO, March 24: Sri Lanka have asked Pakistan to re-schedule a proposed One-day International series in order to allow their players to take part in the Indian Premier League (IPL), a top official said here on Monday.

Chief executive of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Duleep Mendis said the team would tour Pakistan only if the dates did not clash with those of the IPL.

“We have told Pakistan that we are keen to help Pakistan only if it did not clash with the IPL,” Mendis said.

Sri Lanka had offered to play in a short series of five one-day matches in Pakistan after Australia pulled out of a scheduled tour in March-April due to security concerns.

However the dates proposed for the series in Pakistan (April 23 to May 5) were clashing with those of the money-spinning league, set to take place at various venues in India from April 18 to June 1.

The date clash resulted in some of the top Sri Lankan players contracted to the IPL threatening to skip the series.

Mendis said SLC had already released players for the IPL and it would cause inconvenience if the Pakistan tour was to clash with the IPL.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has said that it was willing to offer SLC $800,000 for the five ODIs but only if they sent their full team.

Niranjan Shah, the Indian board secretary, had also telephoned SLC on Friday to note their displeasure over the Pakistan tour, SLC sources said.

The IPL is a city-based tournament with eight teams bought by franchises who selected their respective line-ups via auction in Mumbai last month.

The tournament will see international cricketers put aside their national allegiances to play for privately-owned teams for the first time ever.

Players have received huge pay packets, starting from $100,000 for the first year, to take part in the 44-day, 59-match extravaganza.—AFP