Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sri Lanka's newly appointed captain, is reportedly considering leaving the IPL on May 10 to join the Sri Lanka squad on their way to England, a week before the rest of the country's players currently playing in the Indian league are to depart.
The matter is being sorted at the board level between India and Sri Lanka, according to an official from Royal Challengers Bangalore, Dilshan's IPL franchise.
"Dilshan is keen to travel with the team, to try and create a bond as some of the senior players will be joining the squad a bit late," Roshan Abeysinghe, Dilshan's manager, told AFP.
Sri Lanka Cricket last week allowed seven players, part of the 16-man tour squad, to continue playing in the IPL and arrive in time for the second warm-up game, against England Lions, starting on May 19.
The board had earlier asked the players to return on May 5 in order to prepare for the England tour, which begins with a practice match against Middlesex on May 14. SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga had said that the selectors would pick an additional three to four players to make up the XI against Middlesex. Sri Lanka take on England in the first Test on May 26 at Cardiff.
SLC had originally given the Sri Lanka players till May 20 to play in the IPL, and following their change in the date, the BCCI had contacted Sri Lanka's board asking them to reconsider. The decision had sparked mixed reactions among the Sri Lanka players, with Muttiah Muralitharan criticising it, while new captain Dilshan saidhe did not mind it since playing for the country came before playing the IPL.