Nuwan Thusara withdraws lawsuit against Sri Lanka Cricket

Nuwan Thushara is yet to join RCB at IPL 2026 but the team hasn't named a replacement for him yet

Sri Lanka seamer Nuwan Thushara has withdrawn his lawsuit against Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), just weeks after filing it when SLC denied him a no-objection certificate (NOC) to play in IPL 2026, where he is a part of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), who are yet to name a replacement for the 31-year-old slinger.

Thushara told the Colombo District Court that he wished to withdraw his case as much of the IPL was now already completed. ESPNcricinfo understands that Thushara had also sent a written apology to SLC last week, indicating his willingness to withdraw his lawsuit.

In his original court petition, Thushara had stated his desire to retire from international cricket. It is unclear at this point if that has changed or was the same. Either way, in accordance with SLC's new fitness protocols, Thushara would not be eligible for selection until he met the minimum requirements.

Thushara had been denied his NOC on grounds of him not reaching SLCs required fitness standards, something he had argued had not been a barrier in previous years - periods that Thushara claimed his fitness had remained more or less the same as at present.

It was during this impasse that Thushara had signalled his decision to retire, and filed his lawsuit soon after. Thushara had contended that the enforcement of a fitness-based NOC was unreasonable and a barrier to his livelihood.

The timing - April 2 - had raised eyebrows, as it coincided with the Easter court holiday, meaning a swift resolution was always unlikely. The case was taken up once more on April 9, where SLC indicated its desire to file objections, before finally being taken up on April 23, which was when the case was dismissed.

Thushara, 30 matches old internationally, all T20Is, had been part of Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024 before moving to RCB in 2025.