IPL 2026: No NOC yet for Hasaranga; LSG frustrated by star spinner's injury delay
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "IPL 2026: No NOC yet for Hasaranga; LSG frustrated by star spinner's injury delay")
IPL 2026 No NOC yet for Hasaranga; LSG frustrated by SL spinner's injury delay Photograph: (Others)
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) left frustrated as Wanindu Hasaranga remains a no-show. With his NOC pending and injury recovery delayed, could the Sri Lankan star face a two-year ban? Latest on LSG's replacement hunt.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) might have opened their account in IPL 2026, but are frustrated over the lack of clarity towards their overseas buy, Wanindu Hasaranga’s availability for the remainder of the season. Bought at the base price of INR 2 crore, Hasaranga remains absent from the cricket scene. Having failed to indicate a joining date to his new IPL franchise, Hasaranga risks losing his LSG contract for this edition, with the team preparing to look beyond the Sri Lankan leg spinner.
Per a Cricbuzz report, Hasaranga, 28, hasn’t yet undergone a fitness test that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) usually conducts before issuing an NOC to its players for IPL. Although he is said to have spent some time batting in the nets in Colombo last week, the former world number one T20I bowler hasn’t bowled.
Meanwhile, the right-arm leggie last played a competitive game for his country during their T20 World Cup opener against Ireland, and has been absent since with a left hamstring tear, missing over two months of cricket action.
"We don't have any concrete update on Wanindu Hasaranga," a source close to him has revealed, as also quoted by the publication.
Hasaranga’s silence has only fuelled the narrative that foreign stars are increasingly reluctant to turn up for the IPL when secured at a base price. Should he decide against showing up for LSG this season or pull out for any reason besides injury, he could face a two-year ban under the IPL’s updated withdrawal policy.
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Should the franchise move forward with a replacement, potential candidates include Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman or Mohammad Nabi, as well as English spinners Liam Dawson and Rehan Ahmed. The franchise, however, awaits formal communication from the player about his participation before choosing a replacement for the remainder of IPL 2026.
LSG sits in seventh place with a win and a loss in two contested matches thus far.
