A dab towards the third man for four and history created. Yes, we are talking of the 1996 World Cup final. Arjuna Ranatunga, the skipper, hit the winning runs and Sri Lanka won their first title and became the first team to do so chasing in the final. Australia were beaten and Sri Lanka were the World Champions.
As Ranatunga held the trophy high, he knew this was more than just a World Cup win. This was all the hard work he had put in as a captain over the last 3-4 years in getting the kind of combination that could win one games and hold its ground even against strong teams. Sri Lanka were the whipping boys no more. From playing the first 2 World Cups as an associate nation to becoming the champs, the journey was long and hard.
Ranatunga had quite a role to play in this journey. In the early 1990s, he brought in players of top quality and gave them roles that paid dividends to the team. The decision to make Sanath Jayasuriya open with Romesh Kaluwitharana in ODIs redefined the way people approached batting in the first 15 overs when the fielding. Bringing in a spinner of the class of Muttiah Muralitharan was another masterstroke.
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He is never one to back out of a fight and stands by his convictions. When Muralitharan was called for no-balling, Ranatunga did not hesitate to take his players off the field in protest. When Ian Healy called him unfit, he did not hold back. Just before the 1996 World Cup final, he called Steve Waugh and Shane Warne overrated players and that got under their skin. Neither had a final to remember and Warne actually got some beating from Ranatunga who made 47 not out.
He also has the most runs by a No. 5 in ODIs and has led Sri Lanka in 193 matches in the format, the most for his country. Ranatunga has the rare distinction of playing his country’s 1st and 100th Test. Not a mean feat at all.
The controversy is nothing new for him be it on and off the field. But that is just how he is. The man formed the base for the team of the future as Sri Lanka went from strength to strength to become an Asian powerhouse. Later as a cricket administrator, Ranatunga continued to shape the future of Sri Lankan cricket.
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That’s Ranatunga for you. Nothing held back and always on the front foot.