Nuwan Thushara drags Sri Lankan board to court demanding NOC to play for RCB in IPL 2026: Report

Sri Lanka pacer Nuwan Thushara has taken his national cricket board to the court in order to clear way for him to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The pacer submitted a petition to the Colombo District Court on Thursday, requesting an order that will mandate Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to provide a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to him to play the Indian league.

Thushara was part of the IPL-winning Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) squad last season. However, he has not been able to join the team this year as SLC has not given him NOC to go to India citing injury concerns. He is currently signed by the RCB for Rs 1.6 crore.

Thushara’s big step towards joining RCB

According to the Sri Lankan board, Thushara failed the mandatory fitness test and thus was denied the NOC. Thushara had reportedly failed to achieve the pass score of 17 out of the 29 points on offer in the fitness test.

Hitting back at the board, Thushara has now knocked the doors of the court with hopes of playing the IPL.

Sri Lankan publication Newswire reports that Thushara named Sri Lanka Cricket President Shammi Silva, Secretary Bandula Dissanayake, Treasurer Sujeewa Godaliyadda and CEO Ashley de Silva as defendants in his plaint.

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Thushara has reportedly submitted to the court that he had informed SLC to not renew his contract that was due to expire on March 31 as he aimed to focus full-time on his franchise commitments. He claims that he had been informed by the board that he will not be selected for Sri Lanka.

Thushara also states that his fitness is up to standards and that similar fitness levels had not prevented Sri Lanka Cricket from issuing NOCs to him in previous years. He has argued that if he does not get the clearance then he will lose a significant amount of money and it will also hurt his future prospects in other tournaments.

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Thushara played only one match for RCB last season but had featured in seven matches in IPL 2024 for Mumbai Indians.