Sri Lanka In Talks For IPL Games

Sri Lanka is reportedly in negotiations to host Indian Premier League
matches to raise money for its cricket board, according to media
reports.

The Cricinfo website reported that Upali Dharmadasa,
the newly-elected president of Sri Lanka Cricket, had approached the
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to schedule some of the
Twenty20 league’s games on the island.

The Sri Lanka board has
debts of around $70m after building two new stadiums in Pallekele and
Hambantota and renovating the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo for the 2011
World Cup.

To raise funds, Dharmadasa has also asked India to
play only one-day and Twenty20 games on their tour of Sri Lanka in July,
instead of the three Tests originally scheduled.

Dharmadasa said
he had told BCCI president N. Srinivasan that limited-overs matches
would be more financially beneficial to Sri Lanka.

The next edition of the IPL will be played from 4th April to 27th May.