Sri Lanka’s Former Captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Arjuna-Ranatunga-c45447 Holds Businessmen Responsible for the decline in Sri Lankan Cricket
The former triumphant skipper of the 1996 world cup, Arjuna Ranatunga has held the businessmen of the country responsible for having an adverse effect on the game in the country.
Ranatunga, who was the most successful captain of the national team for the Lankans, after his retirement, is now a politician while talking to the media said, “After 1996, cricket went into the hands of businessmen. This happened with the ICC World Cup
victory in 1996. Money flowed into cricket thereafter. These businessmen were aware how to deal with whatever government was in power.”
However, rubbishing the former skipper’s allegations, Mahindananda Aluthgamage the Sri Lankan sports minister while talking to journalists said, “I say with responsibility that our cricket is not experiencing a decline. This is a false statement…We have
implemented a long-term plan for promotion of cricket and other sports.”
Ranatunga’s claims have come after cricket in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hashan-Prasantha-Tillakaratne-c62021. The claims have thrown Cricket Sri Lanka in disarray and now the country’s cricket
board is on a conquest to clear the name of the game.
On the other hand, Hashan after levelling the allegations has failed to provide any proof to support his claims which has further made the matter worse as the veteran has claimed that because of serious threats to his life, he will not share any information
with the Sri Lankan authorities.
However, the left-handed batsman has reiterated that he is willing to share all information with the International Cricket Council (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625), nonetheless, the matter seems to have been pushed under the rug as no further development has been made in this regard.
The claims have been met with severe criticism, as most Sri Lankan cricketers past and present have dared Hashan to make his information public regarding corruption.
Former skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KC-Sangakkara-c1779 has advised his senior to make the findings public to back his allegations. The wicketkeeper believes that if the allegations are false, the sport will suffer dearly in the Island.
Meanwhile, former vice-captain, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DPMD-Jayawardene-c1397 has also come down hard on the veteran and believes that the claims of Hashan are nothing more than “hot air”. Jayawardene insists that had there been any solid evidence to support his claims, Hashan would
have shared the information with the rest of the world.
Earlier, during the world cup, certain cricket pundits accused the Sri Lankan team to have deliberately lost their group match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747.
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