Calcutta: Word coming out of Sri Lanka is that Mahinda Rajapaksa, who lost the Presidential elections in January, is "very keen" to return as the country's Prime Minister, a position he held from April 2004 till November 2005, before getting to occupy the highest office.
On Friday, President P.G.M.Y. Sirisena dissolved Parliament and the general elections are set for August 17.
That, incidentally, could lead to a tweaking of the dates for the India-Sri Lanka Test series there. The first match of the three-Test series, in Galle, is scheduled to start on August 18.
Rajapaksa and Sirisena, the man who upset him in the Presidential elections, are from the same Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and well-placed sources of The Telegraph have informed that the former is actually looking to be the party's nominee for the Prime Minister's post.
That may not be easy as President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, of the United National Party, had got together to oust Rajapaksa and they have reached a "good understanding."
But, as with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), anything is possible in politics.
Some are also talking in terms of Rajapaksa breaking away from the SLFP and forming a party of his own, to ensure he has another go at the Prime Ministership.
Clearly, the 69-year-old hasn't reconciled to being completely out of power and out of the headlines.
The power structure in Sri Lanka is a bit complicated. The President has near-absolute powers, but it's not that the Prime Minister doesn't have authority.
Obviously, the personalities come into play.
A comeback by Rajapaksa could, of course, have an impact on Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) as he'd taken active interest in the sport during his years as Prime Minister and as President.
While Prime Minister Wickremasinghe's government has appointed an interim committee, headed by Sidath Wettimuny, Rajapaksa would surely bring back Nishantha Ranatunga, who was the SLC secretary till the interim committee took charge.
The government's intervention came via the sports minister, Navin Dissanayake.
One couldn't get confirmation, but the well-placed sources indicated that President Sirisena "endorsed" the appointment of an interim committee to run SLC.
This isn't, however, the first time that a sports minister in Sri Lanka has had to significantly get involved in the affairs of cricket.
May not be the last occasion either.
Nishantha, younger brother of Sri Lanka's only World Cup-winning captain, Arjuna, is considered close to the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman, Narayanswami Srinivasan.
Srinivasan would, therefore, be happy to see Nishantha back at 35 Maitland Place, in Colombo, where SLC is headquartered.
Arjuna (a minister, once more), by the way, has little in common with Nishantha.
Even if Wickremasinghe returns as Prime Minister, for he's a leader with a strong following, the interim committee won't be able to continue indefinitely.
In fact, the Srinivasan-driven ICC would like "free and fair elections" to be held in SLC, preferably before October.
If any Board is run by a nominated committee, then that's a breach of the ICC's constitution. But what happens when individuals get nominated in somewhat of a hush-hush manner?
One is referring to Srinivasan, no less, who got his men in the BCCI to nominate him as India's choice for the chairman's position, even though the Supreme Court had barred him from functioning as its president.
Strangely, nobody said a word in the ICC. Certainly not publicly.
Wettimuny, meanwhile, attended the just-concluded meeting of the ICC's board, in Barbados, as an "observer."
In April, however, interim committee member Nuski Mohamed had declined to attend the board meeting with that status.
Observers don't have a vote.
Apparently, the thinking now in SLC is to be present at the board meetings, irrespective of the status, rather than staying away.
Not too many things are put to vote, so it's not that big a deal.
