Recent media reports claimed that the 23-year-old, who had not been originally sold at the IPL auction in February, had rejected offers from IPL franchises after he was approached as a replacement for injured Michael Clarke and Kevin Pietersen.
Sri Lanka Cricket released a statement on Monday stating that Chandimal had been "offered" an opportunity to play in the IPL, which he had "turned down" due to "prior arrangements".
However, it is learned that no formal offer was made to Chandimal by Pune Warriors or Delhi Daredevils, and his decision not to partake in the IPL was not related to events in Tamil Nadu, where the chief minister of the south Indian state had earlier refused to allow Sri Lankans to play there.
"I've decided I want to focus on my training and fitness during the coming weeks to prepare for the Champions Trophy and a big season ahead for Sri Lanka," Chandimal told Island Cricket.
"I'd love to play in the IPL in the future, but I am young so I thought it's best that I be patient and use this off-season period to work on my technique and build-up fitness. I had also planned to do some more studies and English classes."
Sri Lanka's recently appointed T20 skipper was part of the Rajasthan Royals' squad in 2012, but was not selected for any matches that season. He went unsold in the player auction earlier this year, and had he been offered an opportunity as a replacement player this season, his earnings would have been substantially low when compared with the IPL earnings of his Sri Lankan team-mates.
Nationalists in Sri Lanka have urged Sri Lankan players to boycott India's lucrative T20 tournament after the IPL governing council caved into pressure from the state government of Tamil Nadu and directed IPL teams to not select players from Sri Lanka for matches played in the state.
In a statement released last week, IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said that the decision was made after J. Jayalalithaa, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, had written to the prime minister of India stating that she "will not permit the participation of Sri Lankan players or umpires in matches in Chennai ..."
"The security of all involved in the IPL, whether players, spectators or those working in the stadiums, is of paramount importance to the BCCI," Shukla said.
"The governing council decided that Sri Lankan players will not participate in the ... league matches in Chennai and will advise the nine franchises accordingly."
Tensions between the predominantly Tamil state in India and Sri Lanka have been simmering since the end of the war in 2009 between the island's government and the Tamil Tigers. The Tigers, who were militarily defeated by the Sri Lankan army after decades of war, have had strong support from politicians in Tamil Nadu over the years.
There have been reports of Sri Lankan tourists, including a Buddhist monk, being attacked in Tamil Nadu in recent times, as anti-Sri Lankan sentiments grow there over allegations of war crimes committed by Sri Lankan forces during the war and allegations of discrimination against Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, Muttiah Muralitharan expressed his sadness at the IPL's decision.
"I played for 20 years in the Lankan team, [and] I did not have any problems as a Tamil," Muralitharan told NDTV. "The government and the cricket board always supported me throughout my career even when I went through a lot of problems.
"Earlier, there was a time of war between the Tamils and Lankans, but now people are living in peace in my country, so the concerned authorities in India must come and see how we are living in Sri Lanka and forget what happened in the past. We don't want another war-like situation now."
A total of 13 Sri Lankan players will take part in the sixth edition of the IPL, but none will be playing in Tamil Nadu.
Source: http://www.islandcricket.lk
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