As warned a few months ago, Sri Lanka Cricket has decided to ban all players, who were part of the rebel Indian Cricket League tournament.

Accordingly, former Test captain Marvan Atapattu and Test stars Russel Arnold and Upul Chandana will not be permitted to take part in any SLC sanctioned event. Sri Lanka Cricket, a few days back, sent letters to SSC and NCC (the clubs of the three players) indicating that they shouldn’t be selected to represent their clubs in any of the tournaments sanctioned by SLC.

"We had warned the players about the consequences and we’ll stick to the guidelines," Duleep Mendis, the CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket, told ‘The Island’ on Wednesday.

The Indian Cricket League, promoted by Zee Telefilms and backed by a host of former Indian cricketers, including World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev, was banned by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and the Indian authorities have imposed a ban on all their players who took part in the tournament.

None of the Indian players will be eligible for selection for India in international matches. Member associations have asked not to consider the players for domestic tournaments either.

India’s guideline was followed by many cricket boards around the world and Sri Lanka too agreed to follow the same steps.

SLC’s ban is so severe that none of the players who took part in the tournament will even be considered for employment at the board, commentary stints, umpiring assignments and coaching roles.

It’s believed that Russel Arnold, who made an impressive start as a cricket commentator was in line to take up commentaries for the recently concluded Sri Lanka–England series, but was axed keeping in line with SLC’s policy.

The Indian Cricket League was started in response to BCCI denying its television rights to Zee Telefilms and apart from coming down hard on the league, the BCCI also introduced its own league called the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The Sri Lankan board has approved this particular league and several top Sri Lankan players are supposed to play in the tournament, which is yet to be scheduled.

Marvan Atapattu was named captain of Delhi Jets team and did remarkably well both as a batsman and captain. Arnold and Chandana, meanwhile, had moderate series.

While Arnold retired soon after the World Cup final, Atapattu announced his retirement at the end of the series against Australia in Hobart while Chandana, after being repeatedly overlooked by the selectors announced his retirement mid-way through the year.