Arjuna out to bring more fame to Sri Lanka (5 Sep 1998)

5 September 1998

Arjuna out to bring more fame to Sri Lanka

The Daily News

Problems did not arise when Aravinda de Silva, Kaluwitharana or Hashan Tilakeratne were removed. That's wrong. We must protect every player. That's the responsibility of the mass media.

People should not try to serve their narrow ends. Sajeeva de Silva and Jayantha de Silva are players from less-affluent backgrounds. They have now been removed from the team. No one speaks about them.

Sri Lanka cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga said this, answering questions posed by journalists at the VIP lounge of BIA Katunayake when the Sri Lanka team led by him returned to Sri Lanka having won the Emirates Triangular Cricket Tournament as well as the Test match played against England.

The media helped Sri Lanka cricket very much to achieve success and to win the World Cup. But the media should be more reasonable if the outstation cricketers are to make the grade. If not cricket in this country will never progress. This is true of other sports as well.

Asked whether he does not like criticism he said that criticism is very vital and that he will always welcome constructive criticism. But what some media sources said recently cannot be called reasonable.

He said that he has been playing for Sri Lanka for the last 16 years. "I don't think anyone else knows better about problems in cricket in this country than I do. I have always done what was good for the country. I never thought about personal milestones. The captain of the team is not necessarily the most popular member of the team.

My father is in politics and so is my younger brother. My elder brother is the Chief Executive of the Cricket Board. That's a different matter. I have not gained from politics. When they attack they attack our whole family. Is it reasonable?

The more they attack me the more stronger I become. I can never be chased out. I am prepared to leave the job even today. But I have become more determined by all this.

I will leave this game only after bringing more fame to this little island in the world of cricket," he said.

Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)