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Jay Shah & Arjuna Ranatunga (Source: Twitter)
Sri Lanka legend Arjuna Ranatunga made a shocking statement against Indian Cricket Board Secretary Jay Shah. Ranatunga has accused Shah of 'running' and 'ruining' Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in the aftermath of recent embarrassing developments within his national team.
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Following Sri Lanka's exit from the 2023 ODI World Cup, the Cricket Governing Body suspended SLC citing government interference in the board's internal matters. This comes as Sri Lanka’s sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe sacked the entire cricket board after a humiliating campaign in the 2023 ODI World Cup.
In a recent interview, Ranatunga, Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup-winning captain, claimed that Shah is ruling Sri Lankan cricket and that his influence destroyed the team. He added that the relationship between SLC officials and Jay Shah has created an impression that the Indian Cricket Board can control 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,” Ranatunga was quoted by Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror.
“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. He is only powerful because of his father, who is India’s home Minister," he added.
Watch the video below:
Arjuna Ranatunga- Sri Lanka cricket is maintained and destroyed by India’s Jay shah ( son of Amit Shah ) He is the one who appointed Saurav Ganguly as BCCI president & later asked him to join politics, Ganguly refused it and then he sacked Ganguly. If you want translate this in… pic.twitter.com/96l88856TS
— Nibraz Ramzan (@nibraz88cricket) November 7, 2023
After Minister Ranasinghe sacked the SLC staff, Ranatunga was appointed to head an interim governing body. This is not the first time that the former Lankan player has raised his voice against the Indian Cricket Board. Earlier, Ranatunga had criticised the Cricket Governing Body and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) when they allowed a special reserve day for the India-Pakistan match in the 2023 Asia Cup.
"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. I feel very sad for Cricket Governing Body and ACC because they just want to hold the positions. Former cricketers too don't open, simply because they need the bucks," Ranatunga had said.