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Arjuna Ranatunga
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Calcutta: Arjuna Ranatunga has been advised by the country’s President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, to “lie low” for some days till his removal as Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chairman is in all probability reviewed.
Rajapaksa, one learns, conveyed that on Sunday during the hour-long helicopter ride from Colombo to a northern area for an alms-giving ceremony organised by the minister of highways and road development, T.B. Ekanayaka.
Ekanayaka lost his mother recently and Rajapaksa chose to attend that ceremony, in MP Ranatunga’s company, as he’d missed the funeral.
“Look, the President and Ranatunga were together both on the out-bound and return journeys... There was, therefore, enough time to talk about SLC matters... Ranatunga has been advised to lie low for some days,” a well-placed source told The Telegraph on Wednesday.
The Colombo-based source added: “Ranatunga gave his side of the story and a review of his sacking is on the cards... The President will, of course, have to consult sports minister Gamini Lokuge (the one who removed Ranatunga last week)... Developments, though, aren’t expected before Monday...”
Rajapaksa personally appointed Ranatunga as SLC chairman in January 2008, but the World Cup-winning captain had been ignoring the sports minister, breaking protocol on just about every occasion.
Ranatunga’s somewhat stubborn stand on a host of issues, including SLC’s dealings with senior players, seemed to create tension and Lokuge struck when there was anger over his handling of match-winner Ajantha Mendis.
Today, the sports minister is in absolute control of SLC.
The buzz in some quarters has been that Ranatunga would (as a sop) be offered a ministerial post, but it’s highly unlikely that he’ll actually play ball.
Significantly, not too long ago, Ranatunga had resigned as a deputy minister. It’s SLC that he wants to run.
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