COLOMBO: Not known to mince his words, former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga slammed the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) for changing the playing conditions for the India-Pakistan clash and said the same could be done during the upcoming ODI World Cup in India. The former all-rounder, who led Sri Lanka to their greatest cricketing triumph ever by lifting the 1996 World Cup, was speaking to select media in Colombo on Friday.
"Now, you take the Asia Cup. You have rules before the tournament, but before that one game (India vs Pakistan), they changed the rules. So where is ACC? Where is ICC?" he questioned.
Ranatunga made it clear that he is fine with India being powerful but wants the world governing body to have a say in such things. "So, in the World Cup, let's say halfway through the tournament, I won’t be surprised if they change the rule before the India-Pakistan game. ICC will keep their mouth shut and say ‘ok, ok, do it’. So this is bad. Bad things are happening. I'm not saying it is India, Pakistan. India is powerful. That’s perfectly alright but if the ICC doesn't put a foot into it... the ICC is quite comfortable. They are in a coat and tie, and put a hankie in their pockets and go to meetings. They talk rubbish and nothing happens," Ranatunga said.
The southpaw, who used to bowl right-arm medium pace, termed the ICC an unprofessional organisation. "I don't know whether the ICC is acting today or whether we have ICC. They always say ICC is the toothless tiger. They act in a very unprofessional way. I think they are the ones who should look at cricket and protect cricket. Like, okay, they all have franchisees. That's perfectly okay. But ultimately cricket should be controlled by the ICC, not by a country or an individual."
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Praising former ICC presidents like Sharad Pawar and Jagmohan Dalmiya, he said cricket was a priority for those office-bearers. "But in my days, I was at the ICC, I was a director. There were quality people looking to protect cricket. I was working with Sharad Pawar, I’m not talking about the political Sharad Pawar, I’m talking about the cricket Sharad Pawar. Jagmohan Dalmiya, they were more focused on cricket. They had to fight with the others but still they could still take decisions. They didn't allow… those days Australia, England used to control the ICC. They put a foot on it and they were fighting for their rights."
Ranatunga was unhappy with boards like Sri Lanka Cricket and Bangladesh Cricket Board, who gave their consent to change the rule during the continental tournament. He said it's the players who suffer because of such arbitrary rule changes. "We are lucky that we won the game yesterday (Thursday). Right, you just imagine. If we lost the game yesterday, it would have been a disaster in this country. Luckily, it didn't rain. If we lost we were out of the finals."
The 2023 edition of the continental tournament has been under the scanner for poor scheduling since the beginning with rain playing spoilsport, halting or even getting abandoned. "Our crowd, our spectators are so educated in cricket. They have better knowledge than us. Why did they do this (poor scheduling)? Why do other countries allow that to happen? Because the BCCI is powerful, or one particular person is powerful. No, it can't happen like that. This is where I feel very, very uncomfortable and very sad. They should have given an extra day for all the games if that was the case."
The Asia Cup was originally allotted to Pakistan but once the BCCI refused to travel to the country, the tournament was held on a hybrid model with Pakistan hosting four matches while the remaining games including the final to be hosted by Sri Lanka. But the venues chosen for Sri Lanka leg witnessed downpour on match days putting a question mark on their selection. "Why did they play in Colombo when you have places like Hambantota? It doesn’t rain in Hambantota. That particular ground was built to play cricket during the rainy season. So you come to Colombo to play the Asia Cup. What is ACC doing? These are the small, basic, fundamental things they miss."
The cricketer-turned-administrator-turned-politician said he is glad the tournament returned to the country but affirmed proper planning should have been done before organising the event. "Our cricket board allowed it to go to the UAE. Now that it comes to us, I'm glad that at least our spectators had the opportunity to watch, but overall they should have planned properly. This is something we used to do when I was on the ICC board. We used to discuss. Dalmiya and Pawar, they didn't play cricket, but still they had knowledge on some of the things."
Always vocal for his teammates during his playing days, Ranatunga criticised cricketers for not talking about the unfair move. "I am not very comfortable with some of the things, especially when you have a tournament where you change rules for one team. You’re looking at a disaster in the future. I feel very sad for ICC and ACC because they just want to hold the positions. Why should they get into this? Might as well stay at home and allow someone to work on the cricket part. I don't agree with that. No one talks about it. Have you ever seen a single cricketer talk about this rule change? No. Why? They don't want to miss the buck. Simple as that," he signed off.
