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Xtra Time Web Desk: Sri Lanka’s test captain Dimuth Karunaratne is staring at getting stripped off his captaincy as well as getting dropped from the side over contract disputes with the cricket board. As per reports, if Karunaratne still refuses to sign the contract papers, he may not find a place in the home series against India. Sri Lanka Cricket has sent a stern warning to players who have refused to sign contracts by removing five players from the national camp recently. The Sri Lankan players were undergoing a camp ahead of the white ball series against India.

All the five cricketers - Lasith Embuldeniya, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Ashen Bandara, and Kasun Rajitha refused to sign the tour contract and were hence asked to leave the camp. The camp which began on Friday (June 25), will go on with the remaining 21 players till July 22. However, the doors are still open for the five players if they sign the contract before the training starts.

“These five were offered a tour contract. That is when you participate, they will also be considered for national selection for the Indian tour. For the Indian tour, you need to have a tour contract, which they didn’t sign as they are part of the 24 players offered national contracts. If they sign the tour agreement before the commencement of training for the Indian tour the selectors will consider them,” said Ashley de Silva, SLC CEO.

“Until the national contract issue is resolved they were asked to sign the tour contract if they are going to be available for the Indian series so that they can go into a bubble as we are investing in them. But they were reluctant to sign the tour contract and therefore they were left out of the residential camps. They did not join the bubble in Dambulla or Colombo,” he added.