Sri Lanka Cricket has informed the Colombo District Court that it will file objections against the petition filed by fast bowler Nuwan Thushara seeking a court order compelling the board to issue him a No Objection Certificate for the 2026 Indian Premier League and other overseas franchise leagues.
When the matter was taken up on Thursday, lawyers for Sri Lanka Cricket told the court that the board intends to file formal objections to Thushara’s application. The judge ordered the case be called again on April 23 for SLC to submit its response.
Thushara had filed the petition seeking an interim mandatory injunction directing the board to release the NOC, enabling him to play for Royal Challengers in the 2026 IPL. In his plaint, the bowler named SLC President Shammi Silva, Secretary Bandula Dissanayake, Treasurer Sujeewa Godaliyadda and CEO Ashley de Silva as defendants.
Thushara received NOCs for the 2024 and 2025 IPL seasons without dispute. This year SLC refused the clearance, citing his alleged failure to meet newly introduced fitness standards. The bowler has countered that his central contract with the board lapsed on March 31 and that he had notified SLC in writing that he would not seek renewal or remain available for national selection — which, in his view, removed any fitness-based justification for the refusal.
The decision to litigate rather than comply places SLC on a direct collision course with the World Cricketers’ Association, which last week publicly backed Thushara’s case and described the dispute as symptomatic of a global problem around player rights. It is the first time a Sri Lankan cricketer has sued the governing body over an NOC refusal.
