Sri Lankan Government Expresses Regret To Jay Shah After Arjuna Ranatunga's Shocking Allegations

The Sri Lankan Government, on Friday (November 17), officially issued a statement to express their regret to Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President and BCCI secretary Jay Shah after Arjuna Ranatunga’s controversial remark.

In the wake of Sri Lanka’s disastrous performance in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, Ranatunga raised a number of eyebrows by blaming Jay Shah for the poor condition of Sri Lankan cricket. He sensationally claimed that the BCCI official was running and ruining Sri Lankan cricket.

“Because of the connection between SLC officials and Jay Shah they (the BCCI) are under the impression that they can trample and control SLC…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,” Ranatunga had said.

Sri Lankan government expresses regret to Jay Shah:

Sri Lankan ministers Harin Fernando and Kanchana Wijesekara expressed regret in the Sri Lankan parliament on Friday. Condemning Ranatunga’s statement, the ministers stated that the Sri Lankan administrators and not the outside world should be blamed for the downfall of Sri Lankan cricket in recent times.

“We as a Government express our regret to the Asian Cricket Council chief 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,” Wijesekera said, as quoted by NewsWire.

On the other hand, Fernando revealed that Sri Lanka president Ranil Wickremesinghe has reached out to Jay Shah to discuss the ban imposed by the ICC on Sri Lanka cricket. The governing body of cricket banned the Sri Lankan board for government involvement. He expressed his concerns over the ban and said that it could impact the upcoming U19 cricket World Cup scheduled to be played in Sri Lanka next year.

“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.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka finished in the ninth spot in the World Cup after managing just two wins from 9 games. The Islanders also missed out on a Champions Trophy spot.