You can’t alter the past. The only thing you can alter is the future. People write stories pretending you can alter the past, but it can’t be done. All you can do to the past is remember it wrong or interpret it differently, and that’s no good to us.
If I have to sum up the tale of Sri Lanka Cricket in the recent 5-6 years of their cricket then I think these perceptions from me will fit in the frame quite potentially. Sri Lanka Cricket is struggling to save their existence in world cricket like it was in the 90s era. When a team is weak they need leaders like Arjuna Ranatunga or someone like Sourav Ganguly who have challenged the uncertainties and made possible what was impossible in every perception. The Famous 2001 test series or NatWest Final 2002 are some of the most unforgettable milestones team India has under the Sourav Ganguly captaincy.
Well who can forget the former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga move to open their innings in the limited overs cricket with Sanath Jayasuriya in 1996 World Cup which not helped them to won that world cup but also gave the new way to world cricket with the kind of batting Sanath Jayasuriya did in the initial overs of cricket match. Before the on-going series start the former captain of Sri Lanka has slammed his administration to generate to just revenue from the game by agreeing with other boards to send the second string Indian team.
"This is a second-string Indian team and their coming here is an insult on our cricket. I blame the current administration for agreeing to play with them due to television marketing needs. India sent their best team to England and sent a weaker side to play here. I blame our board for that."
Well if we look to dissect his views and opinions he is not wrong playing cricket for money is other thing and playing for the passion is complete different level of cricket. When your not playing for the passion the results will be same like the current situation of Sri Lankan Cricket along with many other teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Sri Lanka was in the same phase like these days in their early 90s era but then came the players like Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Tillakaratne Dilshan because the level of cricket in that era was complete different from the current overhyped drama of cricket.
Even the former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has said in his recent conversation,
“How many fast bowlers in the world have you seen who can bowl 150 kmph, and how many people are allowed to play this game according to the old wishes?”
“The ICC has put a lot of restrictions, and what do you want? You want TRP, you will be get it. But if you got to see the characters, you need to lift the restrictions.”
“There’s an embargo on cricket. How can there be three circles in the field? I mean…give Sachin Tendulkar credit and stop comparing him to Virat Kohli. He did not play the era of Sachin Tendulkar, which is like the single era of 50 overs, and then the reverse swing starts literally after 10 overs. Face that with Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and the spin of Shane Warne” – Shoaib Akhtar”
“Every team had its specialists. [Lance] Klusener, Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock, Allan Donald, Makhaya Ntini, there were five quality fast bowlers in every country. How many do you have now? There’s Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, but then what?” (sic)
People have to understand that how much cricket has been evolved and now it has been played for just money generating business by the different boards of cricket. Sri Lankan Cricket has to stick with their values to not play the cricket to generate revenue from the game. Otherwise the day has not far away when they will struggling to play cricket.
