Sri Lanka's Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe on Monday sacked the National Cricket Board after the humiliating defeat by India in the World Cup. Ranasinghe has been at odds with Sri Lanka Cricket for months over allegations of large-scale corruption. The country's 1996 World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga has been appointed chairman of the new interim board, Ranasinghe's office said in a statement. According to the statement, Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe has formed an interim committee for Sri Lanka Cricket.
The new seven-member panel also includes a retired Supreme Court judge and a former chairman of the board. The move comes a day after the board's second-highest official, Secretary Mohan de Silva, resigned. Ranasinghe had publicly demanded the resignation of the entire board following Sri Lanka's 302-run defeat to hosts India in the World Cup last week. Chasing India's target of 358 runs, Sri Lanka at one time lost six wickets for 14 runs and was reduced to 55 runs, which is the fourth-lowest score in the history of the World Cup.
The defeat sparked public anger and police have been deployed outside the board office in Colombo following protests on Saturday. Ranasinghe had said that Sri Lankan cricket officials have no moral or ethical right to continue in office. He said, 'Board officials should resign voluntarily. He had earlier accused the board of being traitors and corrupt. Sri Lanka has to play against Bangladesh on Monday and will need a miracle if they want to make it to the last four of the World Cup.
Ranasinghe had on Saturday written a letter to the full members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), seeking mutual understanding and support. In a letter issued to Sri Lankan media, Ranasinghe said, 'Sri Lanka cricket is surrounded by disciplinary issues of players, management corruption, financial misconduct and allegations of match-fixing. The sports minister was forced by the ICC to withdraw the three-member panel appointed last month to probe alleged corruption at the board as it was considered political interference.
The ICC had no immediate reaction to the latest move by Ranasinghe, who sacked the board elected in May, and chairman Shammi Silva, who is serving a third consecutive term. Sri Lanka has not won the World Cup since 1996 and Ranasinghe blamed the board for the poor standard. Prasanna Ranatunga, another cabinet minister, told Parliament in August that the 1996 victory was the biggest curse for our cricket.
He said, 'After 1996, money started coming into the cricket board, and with it came people who wanted to commit theft and corruption.' Former Sports Minister Harin Fernando introduced tough anti-corruption laws in 2019, saying the ICC considered Sri Lanka one of the most corrupt cricket nations in the world.
Also Read: IND vs SA: South African batsmen surrendered before Indian bowlers, made this shameful record in ODI
The newly elected MPs of the BJP-led NDA will meet today to elect Narendra Modi as their leader,
X Down: No website is not stalled in this way, is it a new planning of Elon Musk?
Elon Musk's social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has crashed. Since the morning of today i.
Kotwali Sector-20 police have arrested two associates of jailed YouTuber Elvish Yadav for supplyi
Justice Yashwant Verma of Delhi High Court, who is facing investigation after unaccounted cash wa
Pakistan is completely upset due to the no-tolerance policy of the Modi government against terror
The rising cases of coronavirus are a cause of concern for the whole world these days. This time
IND vs SA: What did Rohit Sharma say after Virat Kohli's century? Arshdeep Singh reveals in video
India's run-machine Virat Kohli scored his 52nd career century in the first ODI against South Afr
Ranbir Kapoor is in the news these days about his upcoming film 'Ramayana'. Every day some news r
After the stampede in the Mahakumbh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is constantly t
Monsoon rains are occurring in many states of the country. Rain is expected in many states includ
