Former Sri Lanka and World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga has reportedly slammed Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah for ruining the Sri Lankan cricket after the team collapsed in the league stage of the 2023 ODI World Cup.
The former ace batter said the close ties between Jay Shah and officials of SLC have resulted in such a situation. He added that the connection between SLC officials and Jay Shah has given the BCCI the impression that they can control and dominate SLC.
"Because of the connection between SLC officials and Jay Shah they (the BCCI) are under the impression that they can trample and control SLC. Jay Shah is running Sri Lanka Cricket. SLC is being ruined because of pressure from Jay Shah. One man in India is ruining Sri Lankan cricket,” Ranatunga was quoted by Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror.
“He is only powerful because of his father, who is India’s home Minister,” he added.
This is not the first time Ranatunga has criticised Shah. During the Asia Cup 2023, he slammed the authorities for keeping a reserve day only for India vs Pakistan in the Super 4 round. The ace cricketer asked why the set rules for the tournament were changed before one game.
"You take the Asia Cup. You have rules before the tournament, but before that one game (India v Pakistan), they changed the rules. Where is ACC? Where is ICC?," Ranatunga asked during an interaction with select media outlets.
Ranatunga stated that modifying tournament regulations to benefit one or two teams would jeopardise the game, and he chastised the ICC and ACC for their silence.
"I am not very comfortable when you have a tournament, where you change rules for one team. You are looking at a disaster in the future," the World Cup-winning skipper said.
"I feel very sad for ICC and ACC because they just want to hold the positions. Former cricketers too don't open, simply because they need the bucks," he said.
Using caustic sarcasm, Ranatunga stated that he would not be shocked if India's World Cup match versus Pakistan in Ahmedabad got a reserve day.
"I won't be surprised if they change the rule before the India-Pakistan game (in the World Cup). ICC will keep their mouth shut and say 'OK, do it'. ICC just talks rubbish, nothing happens," he said.
Ranatunga stated that world cricket should not be dominated by a single board or individual, using the Asia Cup scheduling dispute as an example.
“Why do the other countries allow that (poor scheduling) to happen? Because the BCCI is powerful, or one particular person is powerful. No, it can't happen like that. They should have given an extra day for all the games if that was the case,” said Ranatunga, without taking names.
In the last one week, a lot has happened in Sri Lankan cricket.
Sri Lanka cricket finished ninth on the points table this World Cup, following which they failed to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy.
After Sri Lanka's humiliating performance in ICC World Cup 2023, the entire board was sacked by Sri Lanka’s sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe.
Ranasinghe formed an interim committee headed by Ranatunga to look into the matter. But the board was restored after Sri Lanka’s courts essentially reinstated the board a day later by issuing a 14-day stay order on the gazette that dissolved the board.
A few days leter, the SL cricket board has been suspended by the ICC with immediate effect because of extensive government interference in the board’s administration.
Also read: ICC suspends Sri Lanka cricket board due to 'government interference'