Give Arjuna One Last Chance by Nirgunan Tiruchelvam

Give Arjuna One Last Chance

by Nirgunan Tiruchelvam

 

 (Island, November 8th 2008)

Arjuna, the hero of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, was so focused on his target that he was blind to everything but the eye of the bird that he was aiming at. Our own hero Arjuna Ranatunga, is similarly transfixed on his own glory,  that he cannot tolerate any view but his own.  

The awkward standoff with the BCCI and the players is by no means Ranatunga's fault. In fact, this World Cup winner is perfectly correct in insisting in the sanctity of test cricket. 

 

But, his 'bull in the China shop' approach has alienated both the players and the Indian board. He should have consulted them, before taking the plunge. Sadly, the board has now fallen between two stools with neither the England tour nor the Indian bailout package in prospect.

 

Shortly before he retired to the sound of bugles playing at the SSC in 2000, Michael Roberts wrote that Arjuna Ranatunga's career was a "mixed bag of the good, the bad and the ugly". Now, as he comes to the end of his first year as the President of the cricket board, it is time to take stock :

 

Arjuna the Gifted

 

Though he averaged only 36 in his 93 Tests, his statistics are misleading. Genius is a term that is used liberally, but Arjuna was the first batting genius that Sri Lanka produced. He lacked Jayasuriya's power, Aravinda de Silva's flair, Jayawardene's touch, and Dias's grace. But, Ranatunga had singularly supple wrists, which provided his bow with a sling that few could match. 

 

He had the unique ability to place the ball in a 180 degree arc. Against the spinners, he could either sweep or cut right behind the wicketkeeper. He could viciously punish the fast bowlers with just a short arm jab. Above all, he could drive any bowler down the pitch with textbook precision.

 

Sadly, the best of Ranatunga took place in the dark era - between 1987 to 1992. No one toured the island. Ranatunga suffered in obscurity, playing mainly one-off Tests.   As with many great batsmen, his finest Test innings came in defeats. On a batsman's graveyard in Perth (1988), he defended grimly and then attacked fluently to produce a fine double of 55 and 45.Hardly anyone else in the side crossed double figures.

 

It was as a one-day batsmen, that Ranatunga will be best remembered. He was prolific in the form of the game that Sri Lanka was afforded the most opportunities. He built a mountain of achievement - more runs at a strike rate superior to almost anyone in his time.  Like Javed Miandad, a player with the same gumption, he could conjure victory from certain defeat. 

 

In an upset win in Sharjah in 1990, Ranatunga smashed 44 off the last 20 balls, lifting Kapil Dev into the crowd.  So, when he joined his vice-captain Aravinda de Silva in the 1996 World Cup final with the score at 148 for 3 with less than 100 to get, there could only be one result. No contest was lost with him at the crease.

 

 

There were many who underestimated him as a fat, lazy batsman whose belly pointed down the pitch. But he could accumulate singles at a rate that belied his girth. He could pace an innings, initially with nudges and then with his expansive range of shots. 

 

Arjuna the Brave

 

Defining moment of his captaincy was his standoff with Emerson in 1999 when Murali was no-balled in Adelaide. He risked his career and faced censure. From that moment, his players would have gone through a brick wall for him. Arjuna was villified by the Australian media, but he was not bothered. 

 

There were early signs of his exceptional valour. But, his finest hour in Test cricket came in the end of his career.  In Rawalpindi (2000), the veteran batted with broken and plastered finger, to seal an improbable fourth innings chase. 

 

Arjuna the Idiot

 

 

Shockingly, Ranatunga was completely out of his depth as a tactician. For much of his 56 Tests at the helm, he was unimaginative. He seldom strayed from the most  defeatist course of action. On no less than nine times, he put the opposition in to bat and then lost the match.

 

His worst failing was that he was vindictive towards players he disliked. There is a long list of players whose careers were cut short by Ranatunga's malice. Chandika Hathurusinghe, a determined opener was given precious few chances. Varuna Waragoda, another worthy batsman, was banished from the selector's shortlist after an on-field argument with Ranatunga in 1996 in a club match.  As with most dictators, he could be cruel and unforgiving to those who tread his path. In fact, Bruce Yardley, the former coach, said that Ranatunga treated the players like servants. 

 

He was childish in defeat. After the 1994 debacle in India, Ranatunga refused to blame himself or the players. Instead, he found fault with the press. Callistus Davy, one of the few honest cricket writers, was at the receiving end of Ranatunga's outburst.

 

Spare the Axe

 

Ten months after he took the helm of Sri Lanka Cricket, the game is in a pitiful state. The finance are in a shambles, with no takers for the TV rights. The players resent him. His former prodigies Jayasuriya and Muralitharan are openly defying their mentor. Bridges have been burnt with the Indian board. Nobody seems to want to play Sri Lanka, despite being the World Cup runner-up and the Asian Champion. 

 

The last straw is his clumsy handling of Badurueliya CC's relegation from the first division. All 18 clubs are on strike.  He seems an inept and quarrelsome administrator. Some are calling for Ranatunga's head.

 

But, that is only one side of the story. It is difficult to fully blame him. Sports Minister Lokuge has the distinction of bringing ruin and confusion to every sports body.Arjuna is the first Board President, who has taken the post purely for cricket's sake. Unlike others who took to further their business and political ambitions, Ranatunga is the first full-time Board President. He burns the midnight oil, toiling till for 12 hours a day. As a player, his passion brought victory to Sri Lanka, when all seemed lost.  Give him a chance.