Royal Challengers Bengaluru have been dealt another headache before Saturday’s IPL opener in Bengaluru: Nuwan Thushara has not cleared Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) mandatory fitness assessment and, as a result, will not receive the no-objection certificate he needs to join the squad.
SLC chief executive Ashley de Silva told ESPNcricinfo that Thushara failed to reach “the pass mark of 17 out of 29 points spread across five metrics”, a bar the board introduced two seasons ago. Until he gets there, the right-armer cannot play any franchise or representative cricket. The earliest he can attempt the test again is in four to five days, so RCB will definitely be without him against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday and almost certainly against Chennai Super Kings on 5 April. If he slips a second time, his whole tournament could be in doubt.
RCB were already short of pace options. Yash Dayal has been ruled out entirely, while Josh Hazlewood’s workload is still being managed after a minor side strain picked up during Australia’s home season. Another replacement may yet be needed, though the franchise have not confirmed any contingency plans publicly.
Thushara is not the only Sri Lanka player with paperwork pending. Matheesha Pathirana (Kolkata Knight Riders) and Wanindu Hasaranga (Lucknow Super Giants) are still to sit their own assessments as they nurse calf and hamstring problems respectively.
Knight Riders head coach Abhishek Nayar warned last week that Pathirana “will not be available for the initial games” and might only join KKR “around mid-April”. The 23-year-old quick limped out of last year’s T20 World Cup after three outings and has been in rehabilitation since. KKR paid INR 18 crore for his services at December’s auction, so they will tread carefully.
Hasaranga, meanwhile, cost Super Giants a bargain INR 2 crore but is just as important to their balance. The leg-spinning all-rounder started the World Cup strongly before tweaking a hamstring; Lucknow’s medical team say he is close, though no date has been set for his fitness test in Colombo.
Why the fuss over a fitness test? SLC’s five-part model combines skin-fold, yo-yo, sprint, jump and strength benchmarks. Players argue it can be unforgiving straight after injury layoffs, but the board insists consistency is key. “We have one standard for everyone, whether they are going to the IPL, county cricket or a bilateral tour,” de Silva said earlier in the year.
For Thushara, who remodelled his action during the domestic season and hit 145 kph in the Lanka Premier League final, the delay is frustrating but not necessarily terminal. RCB coaches rate his yorker and change-up skills highly and hope he will still feature later in April.
From a wider perspective, the episode again highlights the delicate dance between national boards protecting their players and franchises paying hefty fees for short-term service. Given the cash at stake in the IPL—Pathirana alone is on roughly £1.6 million—those conversations are unlikely to calm down any time soon.
For now, the immediate picture is simple: RCB enter the tournament opener light on specialist pace, KKR may wait another fortnight for their new strike bowler, and Super Giants are sweating on their premier leg-spinner. Three Sri Lankan stars, three separate rehab schedules, one common hurdle: 17 out of 29.
