Most of us have heard of the ten commandments. Some of us have even studied it. Apart from the ten commandments that Moses was given, in some quarters people talk of a 11th commandment – ‘Do it, but don’t get caught’.
No one in the game of cricket then or now stretched the rules or the boundaries to the maximum that Arjuna Ranatunga did. During his ten year tenure as Sri Lanka’s captain, he found himself at the center of several controversies but was vigilant not to overstep the line. A couple of weeks ago, the Sri Lankan team management and captain Dinesh Chandimal crossed the line in the Caribbean and has been penalized for their excesses. They have got a lot to learn from the great man.
Arjuna earned the wrath of opponents, match officials and the governing body for his street smartness, but he was clever enough to stay out of trouble.
On the eve of the 1996 World Cup final, Arjuna got under the skin of the Aussies. “I remember Ravi Shastri had to interview Arjuna and I had to interview Shane Warne a day before the final,” former Australian skipper Ian Chappell recalled recently.
“Ravi had done his interview already, and the message must have got through to the Australian camp. Shane Warne had definitely heard it. Because he came over to me, and before we even did the interview, he said, “What’s the fat b*****d said about me now?” And what Arjuna had said was that Shane Warne was a bit of a media myth, and was not as good a bowler as everyone made him out to be. So here was this Sri Lankan captain really antagonizing the Australians, and saying, ‘Bring on the Aussies. “Not many teams wanted to play Australia those days,” Chappell added.
Arjuna’s words were sharp. His deeds were sharper. In 1999 at the Adelaide Oval, he took the team off in protest after Muttiah Muralitharan was no-balled. However, he made sure that the players didn’t cross the boundary rope.
Arjuna’s actions came in for intense criticism, but he could not be fixed as lawyers argued that he had strong reasons to do what he did. After all, how can you not protest when someone is no-balled for bowling leg-spin?
The greatest compliment for Arjuna has been paid by Warne himself. In a book where he picked the 50 greatest cricketers he played with or against, Warne included Arjuna and said, “Without any question, Arjuna was the most difficult opponent I have come across. What I disliked was that he seemed to act contrary to the spirit of the game, at times pushing the rules to the limit and making life difficult for the umpires. It often appeared that if there was a ruse Arjuna could pull to try to get under our skin, he would use it,” Warne said.
Arjuna also chose his moments to rub salt into the opposition wounds. He was fuming when England and Wales Cricket Board announced a one-off Test match against Sri Lanka in 1998 even after the island nation had won the World Cup. Two years later, Zimbabwe were scheduled to play a two-Test series in England. The treatment his team had been meted out was used to fire up the players. After Sri Lanka completed a first ever Test win on English soil at The Oval, the Sri Lankan skipper was asked why his team was not given a three-Test series. “England are scared of losing 3-0,” the captain said.
The message was loud and clear and Lord’s heard it. ECB announced back to back three-match series against Sri Lanka home and away in 2001 and 2002.
Arjuna’s early days at SSC were not too cozy. As a school kid when he had first walked into the club, a club stalwart had been unkind with his words. “We don’t want any sarong Jonnies at SSC,” Arjuna was told. Years later when the club felicitated him for becoming Sri Lanka’s Test captain, Arjuna walked in wearing a sarong for the function. He not only bent the rules but changed them as well.
The setbacks that Sri Lanka have suffered in recent times in international cricket is attributed to several factors. Lack of strong leadership isn’t amongst them. Arjuna was a visionary, had the guts to back his instincts and knew when to pick his fights. Out of the more recent Sri Lankan line up Niroshan Dickwella looks the person capable of emulating the great man.
When Arjuna was at the helm, rest of the cricketing world used to look up to Sri Lanka and admire. Not anymore. Like St. Lucia 2018, Adelaide 1999 could have been one of Sri Lanka’s lowest points. But the Adelaide incident was managed cleverly and sanity prevailed.
