Sri Lankan cricket in deep crisis as Sanath Jayasuriya’s selection panel resigns

Agencies
August 30, 2017

Colombo, Aug 30: The Sanath Jayasuriya-led Sri Lankan cricket selection panel has stepped down in the wake of the country’s horrible performance against India. Sri Lanka suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat in the Test series and have already lost the five-match ODI series against Virat Kohli’s Indian cricket team.

Sri Lanka Cricket vice-president Mohan de Silva has confirmed that Sanath Jayasuriya’s panel has indeed stepped down.

“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,” Sri Lanka’s sports ministry said.

“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.”

The string of poor shows has promoted the Sri Lankan government to institute a probe but the cricket board officials have refused to step down.

DEFIANT CRICKET BOARD

The president of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Thilanga Sumathipala has refused to heed the call for resignation from the legendary captain Arjuna Ranatunga. “There is no need to resign, the administration is not at fault for the teams poor showing,” Sumathipala said in Colombo today.

World Cup-winning captain Ranatunga, the current minister of Petroleum, said he had written to both the President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that they should intervene to put Sri Lanka’s cricketing fortunes back in order. He demanded the sacking of the Sumathipala administration and appointment of an interim committee to run SLC.

Sumathipala, the current deputy speaker in national parliament, was elected to head the SLC in 2016 after a long reign by politically appointed interim committees. Sumathipala said his administration has long term plans to resurrect the country’s cricket but it will take 3-4 more years to yield results.

Sri Lankan cricket has been passing through one of its worst phases in recent times. With a rare win against India in the ICC Champions Trophy in June this year, the Lankans have suffered from stagefright and even thrown in the towel against unfancied teams like Zimbabwe.

BIG SHOES TO FILL

Two years have passed since Sri Lanka bid farewell to the last of their batting greats yet the South Asian side appears no nearer to ending what has been a difficult period of transition.

When the brilliant Kumar Sangakkara followed the equally prolific Mahela Jayawardene into retirement in 2015, even the most optimistic Sri Lankan fans acknowledged the void they left was simply too big to be filled overnight.

What they probably did not anticipate was that two years down the line, the team would still be hopelessly in the throes of a seemingly interminable era of regeneration.

Once admired, even envied, for their steady supply of freak bowlers with bizarre actions and a near-invincible record at home, Sri Lanka’s recent humiliating 3-0 whitewash at the hands of India made for a particularly painful watch.

Only Kusal Mendis and Dimuth Karunaratne offered fleeting glimpses of batting prowess but Sri Lanka were otherwise completely outclassed by the tourists in one of the most lop-sided series of recent times.

MATHEWS STEPS DOWN

The debacle followed their first ever one-day series loss to Zimbabwe in July, which prompted a frustrated Angelo Mathews to relinquish the captaincy of both the test and one-day sides.

Mathews appeared to have sparked a revival last year when they whitewashed Australia but the 3-0 home win proved little more than a false dawn.

Sri Lanka were subsequently thrashed in both tests and one-dayers in South Africa, lost a home test against Bangladesh and then failed to progress beyond the group stage at this year’s Champions Trophy.

SHOWCAUSE

The India whitewash has led the country’s sports ministry to call for a report from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to explain why the side performed so poorly, while former captain Aravinda de Silva believes the board lacks vision.

“We are going through a rebuilding process but you can’t be saying that forever,” de Silva, hero of Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup triumph, told the Hindu newspaper last week.

“Short-term process is good for a few months, one or two series, but not for the future.

“So we need to seriously look at the team in the long-term and not keep chopping and changing,” said de Silva, who quit as head of the board’s cricket committee in May.

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News Network
March 4,2020

Mar 4: The BCCI has decided to implement strict cost cutting measures with the notable decision being IPL 2020 champions' prize money will be halved as compared to 2019. In a circular sent to all IPL franchises, the BCCI has notified that instead of a whopping Rs 20 crore, the IPL champion team will now receive Rs 10 crore only. "The financial rewards have been reworked as a part of the cost cutting measures. The champions will get Rs 10 crore instead of Rs 20 crore. The runners-up will get Rs 6.25 crore from earlier Rs 12.5 crore," a BCCI notification, in possession of news agency, read.

The two losing qualifiers will now get Rs 4.375 crore each.

"The franchises are all in good health. They also have multiple ways like sponsorships to bolster their income. Hence the decision on prize money taken," a senior BCCI source said.

However, a state association hosting IPL games will get Rs 1 crore each with franchises and BCCI contributing Rs 50 lakh each.

It has also been learnt that mid-level BCCI employees won't be allowed to avail business class flights like earlier times for flying to the Asian countries (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE) where the flying time is less than eight hours.

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News Network
May 3,2020

New Delhi, May 3: In a startling revelation, India speedster Mohammed Shami has claimed that he thought of committing suicide thrice while battling personal issues a few years ago, forcing his family to keep a watch over him at all times.

He said his family members feared he "might jump" from their 24th floor apartment.

Shami, one of India's leading bowlers in recent years, opened up on his personal and professional life during an Instagram chat with teammate and limited overs squads' vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

"I think if my family had not supported me back then I would have lost my cricket. I thought of committing suicide three times during that period due to severe stress and personal problems," Shami revealed during the session on Saturday.

Now one of the mainstays of Indian bowling attack across formats, the 29-year-old was struggling to focus on his cricket, then.

"I was not thinking about cricket at all. We were living on the 24th floor. They (family) were scared I might jump from the balcony. My brother supported me a lot.

"My 2-3 friends used to stay with me for 24 hours. My parents asked me to focus on cricket to recover from that phase and not think about anything else. I started training then and sweated it out a lot at an academy in Dehradun," Shami said.

In March 2018, Shami's wife Hasin Jahan had accused him of domestic violence and lodged a complaint with the police, following which the India player and his brother were booked under relevant sections.

The upheaval in his personal life forced his employer BCCI to withheld the player's central contracts for a while.

"Rehab was stressful as the same exercises are repeated every day. Then family problems started and I also suffered an accident. The accident happened 10-12 days ahead of the IPL and my personal problems were running high in the media," Shami told Rohit.

Shami said his family stood like a rock with him and the support helped him get back on his feet.

"Then my family explained that every problem has a solution no matter how big the problem. My brother supported me a lot."

Speaking about another painful period in his life after his injury in the 2015 World Cup, Shami said it took him almost 18 months to get back on the field.

"When I got injured in the 2015 World Cup, after that it took me 18 months to fully recover, that was the most painful moment in my life, it was a very stressful period.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

London, Jan 11: Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the World Cup 2011 win has been nominated in Laureas's list for the most inspiring sporting event in the last twenty years.

The moment featuring Tendulkar has been described as "Carried on the shoulders by a nation".

On his sixth attempt at the World Cup and with India not having won the competition since 1983, Tendulkar finally became a part of the team that lifted the coveted trophy. Carried on the shoulders of the Indian team, he made a lap of honour, shedding tears of joy after the victory was sealed in his home city.

The 2011 World Cup was also the first time, in which a host nation ended up winning the trophy.

Apart from Tendulkar, England's Andrew Flintoff is the only other cricketer to feature in the list. In 2005, England managed to defeat Australia in an Ashes Test, but Flintoff chose to first shake hands with Brett Lee rather than celebrate with his side.

Matthias Steiner (weightlifting), Natalie du Toit (swimming), Sky Brown (skateboarding), Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee (triathlon), Xia Boyu (mountaineering) have been nominated in the list.

Female tennis stars also feature in the list for coming up with an equal play, equal pay campaign. After pressure from Venus Williams and others, Wimbledon announced that female tennis players would receive prize money equal to the men's.

German international footballer Miroslav Klose was playing for Lazio in Italy's Serie A in 2012 against Napoli when he rose for a ball in the early moments of the game.

The ball came spiraling off his hand and skirted into the back of the net and a goal was awarded. While most players would carry on as if nothing had happened, Klose was honest with the referee and admitted that he handled the ball.

As a result, he also finds a place on the list.

The Laureus Sporting Moment Award celebrates the moments where the sport has unified people in the most extraordinary way.

This campaign has shortlisted 20 sporting stories from the last 20 years that have left their mark on the world.

The winner will be decided on the basis of public voting. It has already started, and the final date to cast the vote is February 16.

Finally, the result will be declared on February 17.
With three knock-out rounds, the top-20 moments will be whittled down to ten then five, with the top-five moments going head-to-head.

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