The club versus country debate has once again returned to haunt the Indian Premier League.

The Sri Lankan players involved in the fourth edition of the league have been ordered to return to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan Sports Minister Mahinadananda Althugamage has called on the players to prioritize the national side over IPL.

The Lankan players have been ordered to return home by the 5th of May, and then leave for their upcoming tour of England by the 11th of May.

The Lankan board has also supported the move as they want the team to get acclimatized to the English conditions by leaving early for the tour.

A number of Lankan players like Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Lasith Malinga are part of the IPL and will now miss out on a large part of the tournament.

Sanga and Mahela are captains of Deccan Chargers and Kochi Tuskers respectively and will be sorely missed by their teams at the business end of the tournament.

But the decision is not a knee jerk one by the Sri Lankan authorities as the series starts on May 14 and the international calender was fixed well in advance so the IPL teams must have known about the non-availability of the Lankans.

Lanka's England tour

Sri Lanka's England tour for which the players have been called back comprises  3 Tests and 5 one-dayers. After the players return by the 5th of May as ordered by the ministry, they leave for England on the 11th May.

Then Sri Lanka will play their first warm-up game against Middlesex from the 14th of May to 16th of May. And their second warm-up game against England Lions will be from May 19th to May 22nd.

The first Test against England starts on the 26th of May at Cardiff, while the IPL final is on the 28th of May.

Lankan players in IPL

A total of 11 Sri Lankan players are part of the IPL season 4. Of them only Muttiah Muralitharan will be unaffected by the Lankan sports minister's directive to return home as he has already retired.

Here's a list of the Sri Lankan players who are part of IPL season 4. Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawaredene, the dangerous Tillakaratne Dilshan, this season's highest wicket taker Lasith Malinga, useful all-rounder Angelo Mathews, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thisara Perera, pacer Dilhara Fernando, off spinner Suraj Randiv and the uncapped Nuwan Pradeep.

And most of the players barring Pradeep are expected to make the cut for the England tour.