Cricket Update - India Confirms Tour Of Sri Lanka

It's been officially confirmed that India will be touring Sri Lanka in February for a short series that will comprise of 5 One Day International matches and one Twenty20 game. This shows an effort on the Indian side to improve ties between each other which had hit rock bottom during Arjuna Ranatunga's administrative tenure.

The schedule for the tour has not been finalized yet but the secretary of the BCCI, N. Srinivasan said that it will take place sometime during the 2 weeks window in Sri Lanka's tour to Pakistan, that is, from Jan 28 to February 14.
According to the chief executive of Sri Lanka Cricket, SLC, the matches will be played in the cities of Dambulla and Colombo. The venues are yet undecided as well though there is a strong chance the R Premadasa Stadium and the SSC will be seeing some action.

Being a fan of cricket I was much disappointed when under the administration of Ranatunga the 2 countries had started having a downfall in their relationship. This was due to the refusal of the Sri Lankan board to allow their players to participate in the IPL. I heaved a sigh of relief when the SLC confirmed committing its' players to the IPL which will take place this April and also assured the Indian Cricket Board of their assistance on the ICL problem. However, the sacking of Ranatunga by the Sri Lankan sports minister Gamini Laokuge, left a bad taste in my mouth as he was both a great cricketer and a hero in Sri Lankan cricket. He is one guy who deserved better than that.

A further effort to strengthen ties between the 2 cricketing nations is also underway. It's been reported that a long term contract is going to be signed between the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) the day of the upcoming Twenty20 match next month.

The sports minister, Mr. Lokuge said that all issues between the 2 countries regarding cricket had been resolved and that the IPL had already allowed 5 of its' cricketers to take part in the upcoming IPL tournament. He claimed that this would strengthen the relationship and goodwill between the 2 countries and will result in more cricket tours between them. He also confirmed that the IPL had decided to stand by the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) on the issue of ICL.

The BCCI secretary Mr. Srinivasan showed his pleasure at the cordial resolution of all pertaining issues between the 2 countries regarding cricket and said that the "BCCI ... will be committed to support SLC in the future".

Despite being glad that things have come to an amicable end, I feel that the treatment given to Arjuna Ranatunga was too harsh if not completely unjust. He was the biggest reason why Sri Lanka won the 1996 cricket World Cup and under him Sri Lankan cricket flourished like it had never done before. I am not saying that he should have been allowed to do whatever pleased him with no check on his actions but perhaps a better solution to the problem could have been found.

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