Sri Lanka Govt Apologises To Jay Shah After Arjuna Ranatunga Controversial's Remarks
BCCI Secretary Jay Shah (Twitter)
Ministers part of the reigning Sri Lanka government expressed "regret" and apologised to Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Jay Shah over former Sri Lanka skipper Arjuna Ranatunga's controversial remarks made against him following the Island nation's disastrous ICC World Cup 2023 campaign.
Sri Lanka suffered the worst fate in the stiff tournament played on Indian shores after winning just two of their nine league matches and succumbing to the ninth-placed finish, which meant they crashed out of the Champions Trophy 2025 qualification scenario as well.
To further rub salt into the wounds of Sri Lankan fans, the recent shuffling of powers within Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), including government interference in appointing a temporary regime which was later removed by the court, led to SLC's suspension from International Cricket Council (ICC).
Amidst all this, however, Ranatunga identified a curious villain of Sri Lankan cricket and blamed Shah, who is also the powerful BCCI secretary, for the downfall of the nation's cricket. While Sri Lankan Cricket has faced persistent flak for misgovernance and corruption at the grassroots level, Ranatunga felt Shah is one of the reasons for their dire state.
SL government apologise to Jay Shah
Ministers of the existing government Harin Fernando and Kanchana Wijesekara have now brushed aside Ranatunga's suggestion against Shah and expressed their deep "regret" towards the ACC president and BCCI secretary.
"We as a Government express our regret to the Asian Cricket Council Cheif Jay Shah. We cannot point hands at the Asian Cricket Council Secretary or other countries for the shortcomings of our institutions. It is a wrong assumption," said Wijesekera during a parliament speech on Friday (November 17) as reported by Sri Lanka-based 'NewsWire'.
Fernando said President Ranil Wickremesinghe has already reached out to Shah for a critical conversation in relation to ICC's imposed ban on SLC, fearing it would have major repercussions on Sri Lanka's participation in the forthcoming U-19 World Cup at home and the 2024 men's T20 World Cup in the Caribbean & USA.
"If the ICC ban is not lifted no one will visit Sri Lanka for the tournament. Sri Lanka will also not earn a single penny from the cricket tournament," he said.
 "Kashish Chadha")