COLOMBO, Dec 31: Sri Lanka’s cricket chief Jayantha Dharmadasa stepped down Monday, clearing the way for former captain Arjuna Ranatunga to take over in the top job.

“He has offered his resignation in writing to the sports ministry secretary and will cease to be in office with effect from this evening,” Sri Lanka Cricket spokesman Samantha Algama told AFP.

Dharmadasa’s resignation as chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket’s interim committee comes in the wake of a government decision to appoint Ranatunga.

“Arjuna Ranatunga’s appointment letter as the head of the interim committee will be issued tomorrow,” S. Liyanagama, secretary of the sports ministry said.

Ranatunga, currently a ruling party legislator, led Sri Lanka to their lone World Cup triumph in 1996. He quit international cricket in 2000.

The interim committee will be reconstituted, with the sports minister nominating members to the new panel after Ranatunga takes up a position he had been angling for some time.

Dharmadasa, a local businessman, took over as chairman in 2005 after the then government decided to suspend the democratically elected administration headed by Mohan de Silva.—AFP