By P. Karunakharan, IANS,
Colombo : With a new interim body taking over Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) early this month, the island’s cricket governing body is facing a complete overhaul and the incumbent Chief Executive Officer is likely to resign or be replaced.
The new interim administration of SLC took over duties in middle of March, three months after Sports Minister Gamini Lokkuge sacked the former interim administration led by the World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga.
According to reports, former Sri Lankan opener Ajith Jayasekera would first join the SLC as additional CEO and later replace the incumbent CEO, Duleep Mendis.
Confirming the reports about the move to bring in Jayasekera to the fore in the SLC administration, Mendis said he had still not made up his mind whether or not to resign from the top post.
“Yes, Ajith (Jayasekera) is coming, but I have not made up my mind yet on my future course of action,” Sri Lanka’s former captain Mendis told IANS Sunday.
He, however, refused to comment on the reports that he was being sidelined and by the new interim administration.
Asked whether he was contemplating to resign from the post that he had held for the past five years despite the frequent changes in the interim administration, Mendis said: “It is a decision that I have not taken yet.”
Mendis led the team that registered Sri Lanka’s first Test win over India in 1985. After retiring from cricket, Mendis moved on as the national coach and in 1996 he became the Chairman of the national selection committee as well as the manager of the national team that won the World Cup.
Secretary of the new interim committee, Nishantha Ranatunga has also confirmed that due to “some lapses in the administration” there is a need for the post of an additional CEO.
“What we need here is a person who could handle the day-to-day administrative functions without any hiccups. Duleep could concentrate only on cricket which is his strong point,” Sunday Times quoted Nishantha, younger brother of Arjuna Ranatunga, as saying.