NOC denied, LSG’s Rs 2 Cr star out of IPL 2026; South African player in radar

Kolkata: Lucknow Super Giants’ marquee off-season purchase, Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga, will play no part in IPL 2026 after Sri Lanka Cricket withheld the mandatory No-Objection Certificate, effectively ending the 29-year-old’s campaign before it began. The franchise, which splurged INR 2 crore for his services at the December mini-auction, confirmed on Thursday night that a replacement would be unveiled within the next 24 to 48 hours.

“We are preparing for the fact that he isn’t going to be able to join us,” LSG head coach Tom Moody said during the side’s fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens. “We are looking at replacements, that should be announced in 24-48 hours.”

Hasaranga, who has not played competitive cricket since tearing his left hamstring in Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup opener in February, failed to complete the fitness tests supervised by SLC — a prerequisite for receiving the NOC that would have allowed him to link up with the Lucknow squad. He had previously turned out for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2025 and for Royal Challengers Bengaluru between 2021 and 2023.

With the spin cupboard suddenly bare, LSG have zeroed in on South Africa’s left-arm orthodox bowler George Linde as the likely successor. Linde, 32, is yet to make his IPL debut despite extensive experience on the global T20 circuit: SA20, The Hundred, Major League Cricket and the Pakistan Super League have all featured in his travel itinerary over the past 12 months. In 250 T20 matches he has claimed 218 wickets at an economy rate of 7.42, though his most recent international outing against New Zealand yielded only one wicket in four innings.

The off-field distraction did little to derail Lucknow on the park. In the same match that Moody addressed Hasaranga’s absence, LSG snatched a last-ball, three-wicket triumph while chasing 182. Half-centuries from Ayush Badoni (54) and debutant Mukul Choudhary (54*) provided the bedrock before Choudhary’s savage finishing blows sealed the deal. The eighth-wicket pair of Choudhary and Avesh Khan cobbled together an unbeaten 54-run stand — the highest for the eighth wicket or lower in a successful IPL chase — with Choudhary contributing 52 of those runs.

Earlier, KKR’s 181 for 4 had been built on crisp contributions from Ajinkya Rahane (41), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (45) and late pyrotechnics from Rovman Powell and Cameron Green. Yet it was Lucknow who held their nerve in the final over to register one of the most dramatic victories of the season.