Former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga has savaged Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi, blaming him personally for India's disappointing World Twenty20 campaign earlier this year.
In a speech to the Oxford Union (part of the world-famous Oxford University), reported in the January issue of The Wisden Cricketer magazine, the 1996 World Cup winning captain said:
"India lost the Twenty20 World Cup thanks to Lalit Modi. No one else. Lalit Modi and his IPL. When I was playing, there were players who always wanted to achieve something for their country -- we used to play for our clubs for no money. It was an honour to play for our country. Not like nowadays."
Ranatunga also warned that "a lot of unwanted people have started getting involved. They will come in with Twenty20, they will burn money with Twenty20, then they will vanish."
He was dismissive of the suggestion that Twenty20 leagues gave opportunities to young players.
"Only limited top players benefit and that is just financially. You need a balance between bat and ball for good cricket; Twenty20 will kill that for financial considerations," he says.
Ranatunga goes on to say that given the correct security, he would be in favour of Sri Lankan teams returning to play in Pakistan:
"Provided we had proper security, as we had when we played the Asia Cup there, I'd lead a team to Pakistan. Sri Lanka had these problems for 30 years [in the Sri Lankan civil war]. If you're going to stop playing because of terrorism, you are going to end up with a shamed country."
