On Wednesday (22nd November), Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe extended an apology to BCCI secretary Jay Shah after former skipper of the Sri Lankan cricket team captain Arjuna Ranatunga held Jay Shah responsible for the current dire state of Sri Lankan cricket.
In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, Wickremesinghe said that he had a conversation with Jay Shah on the matter and also apologized to him for his name being dragged into the controversy. “No Jay Shah doesn’t run Sri Lankan cricket. They think that Jay Shah is supporting the cricket board. But I spoke to Jay Shah and felt sorry that his name had been dragged in and apologized,” he said.
“He said, ‘My position is, whoever is the legal body, I will back. If this lot is the legal body I will back them. If the other lot is the legal body, I will back them. If there’s a third group that’s the legal body, I will back them. That’s not decided by me, that’s decided by ICC,” the Sri Lankan President was quoted as saying.
Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga’s comments about BCCI secretary Jay Shah “running” Sri Lankan cricket had sparked outrage around the cricketing world, particularly in cricket-crazed India.
Earlier on 17th November, the Sri Lankan government had expressed regret to Jay Shah over controversial remarks by Ranatunga. “We, as a government, express our regret to the Asian Cricket Council chief Jay Shah. We cannot point our fingers at the Asian Cricket Council or other countries for the shortcomings of our institutions. It is a wrong assumption,” Sri Lankan Minister Kanchana Wijesekera was quoted as saying in the Parliament.
Sri Lanka Cricket was suspended by ICC for ‘excessive government interference’ after the Sri Lankan team’s exit from the ongoing World Cup in India. On 10th November, ICC suspended SLC with immediate effect, after the cricket board was sacked by the minister and then was reinstated by a court.
Notably, troubles with the Sri Lankan cricket board peaked after its disastrous defeat by 302 runs against India in the ongoing World Cup in Mumbai. The Sri Lankan parliament unanimously asked Sri Lanka Cricket’s elected board members to resign, accusing them of unprecedented corruption. The allegations of corruption against the board were made by the sports minister, and the parliament agreed with him. However, the board didn’t resign.
After that, Sri Lanka’s sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe sacked the SLC board and installed an interim committee headed by Arjuna Ranatunga on 6th November. But a court of appeal stayed the minister’s order for 14 days on 7th November, reinstating the current board, after SLC president Shammi Silva filed an appeal against the minister’s sacking order. This entire episode was seen as excessive government interference in the sporting body by the ICC, and it suspended the SLC on 10th November.
It is notable that the board filed a defamation case worth 2.4 billion SL Rs against Minister Roshan Ranasinghe over the issue.
The controversy further raked up after Minister Fernando cautioned that the ICC ban could have adverse consequences for the country, particularly affecting the upcoming Under-19 Cricket World Cup scheduled for January next year. He said, “If the ICC ban is not lifted, Sri Lanka won’t be able to participate in any tournaments. We won’t receive any funds from cricket tournaments.”
Notably, on Thursday (16th November), Arjuna Ranatunga said, “Because of the connection between Sri Lankan Cricket officials and Jay Shah, they (the BCCI) are under the impression that they can trample and control SLC. Jay Shah is running the Sri Lanka Cricket. SLC is being ruined because of pressure from Jay Shah. One man in India is ruining Sri Lankan cricket. He is only powerful because of his father, who is India’s home minister.”
The comments sparked such outrage that Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe himself apologized. In response to the ICC’s decision, President Wickramasinghe also stated that he knew the country’s board would be suspended.
He said that, as per the opposition, the Board of Control had written to the ICC and requested that Sri Lanka be suspended. “I haven’t looked at the letters that the opposition leader gave me. But I knew the ICC was going to suspend Sri Lanka anyway,” he added.
“We were trying to save the U-19 matches, we were going to have tourism, but that didn’t work out so we lost on all that,” he said adding that he awaits the outcome or decision of the courts concerning the interim committee. “Once that is completed, we will need to begin discussions with the ICC to ensure that Sri Lanka can host matches again,” he said.
“As far as the cricket board is concerned, there is a committee of ministers that are going to it, which will recommend legislation. They’ve spoken to the board members as well as to the interim committee members, but I want to bring legislation which will take away the power of the minister to intervene and interfere in politics,” Wickramasinghe added.
