Kolkata: The selection panel of Sri Lankan Cricket headed by former batting great Sanath Jayasuriya would resign after the completion of the ongoing series against India, according to reports on Monday.
The Sri Lankan cricket team was earlier handed a 3-0 beating by Virat Kohli and co. in the Test series few weeks back and the result has not changed in the 50-over format as well as they have already conceded the series 3-0 to an in-form Indian team who would look for another whitewash with two games remaining.
This decision made by the selectors reflect the tough times that cricket in the island nation is going through. The other members in the selection panel are Ranjith Madurasinghe, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Asanka Gurusinha and Eric Upashantha.
The Jayasuriya led panel of selectors’ had joined office on the 1st of May in 2016 and their decision to quit the job would come into effect after the Sri Lankans play India in a one-off T20 match on the 6th of September.
The Sri Lankan sports ministry confirmed the decision, “Sri Lanka Cricket chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya, as well as committee members Ranjith Madurasinghe, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Asanka Gurusinha and Eric Upashantha, have decided to resign.”
It further added, “A combined letter bearing the names of the above committee has conveyed this decision to sports minister Dayasiri Jayasekara. According to the letter, their tenure will end on September 7.”
This was however Jayasuriya’s second stint as the national selector after he had held the same office from January 2013 to March 2015. Sri Lanka won the World T20 in 2014 during this spell beating favourites India in the final.
The Sri Lankans pulled off a brilliant 3-0 whitewash over the mighty Australians at home and also beat them in a 2-1 T20I series Down Under in Jayasuriya’s second stint. But the defeats they faced were more as they had an early exit from the Champions Trophy this year and were handed a shock ODI series defeat by Zimbabwe at home for the very first time in their cricketing history. (Former skipper Angelo Mathews had relinquished his captaincy following this upset).
The former aggressive left-hander held the unruly behaviour of the Sri Lanka fans during the third ODI in Pallekele as the reason for their resignation.
Ranatunga tells Sri Lanka cricket audience not to behave like Indian fans.
During the third fixture of the five-match series, the Sri Lankan crowd, frustrated by their team’s string of poor performances, the spectators threw bottles on the ground as Sri Lanka surrendered another series to the opposition.
Former Sri Lankan legend and World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga took a dig at the Indian audience, saying that the Sri Lankan spectators shouldn’t behave like them.
In an interaction with the media at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Head Office, Ranatunga said, “Such incidents should not be repeated. Sri Lankans love cricket and they feel sad when we lose a match. We have made lots of sacrifices for cricket and those sacrifices had been made while losing lots of things. Every cricketer in our team is mentally depressed.”
He also added, “Therefore, I request our cricket lovers not to behave like Indian spectators. We have a very good history and culture. Such misbehavior is not accepted in our culture and history.”
During the semi-final of the 1996 World Cup between contested between India and Sri Lanka at the iconic Eden Gardens, India looked all set for a humiliating loss and this enraged the spectators, who set fire to the gallery. In the end, the match was abandoned and Sri Lanka were declared the winners.