GALLE: Sri Lanka’s champion batsman Kumar Sangakkara will meet Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) secretary Nishantha Ranatunga on Monday in a bid to iron out some of the issues that have cropped up between the two.
Issues surfaced once again when Sangakkara speaking on the subject of SLC offering Lasith Malinga the option to represent the Mumbai Indians or play for Southern Express.
Last year when Sangakkara’s IPL team Hyderabad Sunrisers qualified to play in the Champions Trophy T20 tournament, he had to forego a participation fee of US$40,000 after he chose to play for his local T20 team Kandurata following a statement made by Ranatunga questioning Sangakkara’s patriotism.
Speaking about this issue to a local daily here, Sangakkara said: “My situation was different. The President and the entire SLC were supportive of me. It was a case of one individual carrying out his personal agenda and vendetta against me.”
Since Sangakkara made his famous and unforgettable Sir Colin Cowdrey oration for the MCC a section of the sports administration are not happy with the conduct of the former Sri Lanka captain.
Even upon the return of the Sri Lankan team after their World Twenty20 triumph in Bangladesh last April, some of the statements made by Sangakkara and his colleague Mahela Jayawardene did not go well with the administration and they were about to be hauled before a SLC committee, but that fell apart.
Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2014
