Arjuna should keeping firing away

If ever Arjuna Ranatunga gets down to write his autobiography he wouldnrsquot have to think too hard for a title He would only have to look at his own personality and come up with something like Shooting From the Lip or Pulling No Punches And how about Least Bothered something that he stressed recently in this newspaper when it came to talking about what administrators think about his viewsInternational cricketrsquos most outspoken World Cupwinning captain turns 60 tomorrow Itrsquos been an incredible life in which he took his country to the very top of oneday cricket in an era of sheer dominanceObviously what stood out was the 1996 World Cup When cricket enthusiasts recently expressed fear of the law of averages catching up with the Indian team at the recently concluded World Cup pundits pointed to the fact that Australia like India recently won every game before the 2003 and 2007 final Ditto West Indies in 1975 and 1979 But Ranatungarsquos Sri Lankans did the same in 1996 steamrolling Australia West Indies Zimbabwe India Kenya England and India again in the semifinals before outwitting Mark Taylorrsquos Aussies in the final at LahoreSri Lanka were nothing short of devastating under Ranatunga who let loose on the world that dreaded opening pair of Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana Ranatungarsquos oneday career ended with the 1999 World Cup where he failed to defend his crown The following year witnessed the end of his Test careerTo us journalists Ranatunga was always helpful when he was captain Indeed he was an interviewseekerrsquos delight would invariably come up with quotes that would make headlines Understandably not all his utterances would go down well with the cricketing fraternityAlso read Six Australian players released from the T20I squad against IndiaHowever his relations with the Sri Lankan media was not always great He was particularly displeased when his team were criticised for their poor show in the 1999 World Cup Ranatunga felt the expectations were unfair because the 1996 triumph came in the subcontinent while the 1999 edition was held in England where conditions were tough Thus he made no promises for 1999 ldquoAll I can say is that we will do our best That is why I told journalists from home that they need not bother to talk to me as I have nothing to say to themrdquo Ranatunga told journalist Rajan Bala before the start of the tournamentFrom my experience I can say Ranatunga was more than cooperative On my first overseas tourmdashto Sri Lanka in 1998mdashhe readily agreed to grant me an interview by the Taj Samudra poolside in Colombo taking time off from playing with his kids He spoke on the limitations of Sri Lankan cricket and how there were only 25 ldquogood cricketersrdquo in the country He also revealed that he had a gut feeling that he wouldnrsquot be captain after the 1999 World Cup He was right We also spoke about Australia He didnrsquot seem to like them very much and reiterated that Shane Warne was good without being great ldquoHe Warne has a good record But you cannot call him a great I would say this is all hyperdquo he saidHe had an interesting point when it came to the Australians comparing Indiarsquos champion batsman Sachin Tendulkar to Sir Don Bradman ldquoWhen Warne was massacred by Sachin earlier that year they started comparing him with Don Bradman With Tendulkarrsquos class why didnrsquot they compare him to Bradman before the series This is how Asian cricketers are treatedrdquoOn the same tour I was finding it difficult to get hold of him at the end of each Sri Lanka game Security was too tight and there were no formal postmatch press conferences He suggested that I call him on the hotel intercom even if it meant late at night for his match observations He was true to his word When the tournament moved to Galle he suggested to have a meal or two at his favourite hotel thereRanatunga was unmovable when he was in charge and didnrsquot appear to give too much importance to his team coaches He was delighted to have a Sri Lankan coach in 1998 Roy Dias after the exits of Dav Whatmore and Bruce Yardley ldquoI got along very well with both Whatmore and Yardley Having a Sri Lankan coach is my personal opinion and you donrsquot always get what you wantrdquo he saidWhen I interviewed the late Yardley in Perth on Indiarsquos 19992000 tour of Australia he revealed that Ranatunga didnrsquot have a winning attitude in Test match cricket pointing to the 199798 threeTest series in India where he was happy with drawn Tests The former Australia offspinner also said ldquoPlayers used to come to me and complain about him They didnrsquot want to speak up as they were afraid of losing their places Such was the scenariordquoRanatunga knows his cricket history And that includes Mumbai cricketrsquos legacy In 2007 at the South Australia Premierrsquos invitation match held in Adelaide to celebrate two decades for the 1986 Chennai Tied Test Ranatunga as captain called on my colleague Ashwin Ferro invited to report on the event to bowl the first over against an Australian outfit ldquoBombay you bowlrdquo Ranatunga ordered When my colleague asked him why did he choose him the chunky former player replied ldquoBombayhellip most Ranji Trophy titles nardquoToday Ranatunga lost all his excess weight Hersquod be proud of that Hersquoll also think about how he made his debut in Sri Lankarsquos inaugural Test in 1982 on the recommendation of no less a personality than Sir Garfield Sobers who was involved with Sri Lankan cricket then The selectors were divided on whether they should pick a teenager Sobers sealed it and gave Sri Lankan cricket their greatest captainAt 60 Ranatunga must keep airing those strong views He will not please everyone and sometimes he will be wrong Thatrsquos better than being a fence sitter or someone who is happy to go with the flowmiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper