Sri Lankan players were stopped by the national Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara at the Colombo Airport from boarding the flight to India, for the upcoming One Day International series.

The Sports Minister claimed that total nine players were sent to India without his permission, and because of which he had to take this step. The rest of the team is already playing Test series in India, and other nine members of the Team were leaving for India on Monday.

However, after a long conversation between the Sports Minister and Sri Lankan officials, those nine players have been given permission and will reach India on Wednesday night.

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Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara confirmed to Cricbuzz, “The reason I stopped the players from leaving Colombo is that it would set a bad precedent. They have now received the necessary clearance and will leave for India tonight.”

The three-match ODI series between India and Sri Lanka will gets underway from 10 December with the first ODI at Dharamshala.

A Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) official had told Cricbuzz, “Most players reached the airport around 9 pm on Monday. Left-arm spinner Sachith Pathirana had even boarded the flight, but they were told to go back home as the team didn't have the approval of the minister of sports.”

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According to Sri Lankan sports Law, all the teams, be it cricket, or other sports, are required to get a clearance from the sports ministry in the country.

Sri Lanka ODI Squad - Thisara Perera (captain), Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Asela Gunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella (wicketkeeper), Chaturanga de Silva, Akila Dananjaya, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dhananjaya De Silva, Dushmantha Chameera, Sachith Pathirana, Kusal Perera.