Sri Lanka's World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga has said that he feels "very sorry for Indian cricket."
In an interview to gulfnews.com, Ranatunga said: "I feel very sorry for Indian cricket. The way they are going they are heading towards a disaster.
They won the World Cup but look at the way they are playing Test cricket. They are losing to most of the countries and don't produce any more Gavaskars, Vengsarkars or Viswanaths, Tendulkars, Dravids and Laxmans. I am talking about classical cricketers..."
Ranatunga also blamed the riches of the Indian Premier League for taking Indian cricket into wrong direction.
"They will now produce butchers because of the IPL. Most countries are now being controlled by the Indian cricket board because they are the kingpin and have all the money," Ranatunga added in the same breath.
According to Ranatunga, it was the lucrative offer from the IPL that prompted Sri Lanka's pace sensation Lasith Malinga to quit Test cricket.
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Players now prefer to play IPL rather than for their country. Malinga has retired from Test cricket because he wants to play in the IPL and our board did nothing. You cannot pick and choose.
"The IPL is entertainment for a public who does not understand the game. People who understand this lovely game will never get into the shorter version. I like the way the West Indies cricket board handled the issue of the IPL. They allowed their players to go and play in the IPL and continued to stage their international matches against Australia," he said.
Ranatunga also blamed the "spinless" Sri Lankan cricket board for its failure to stop players getting into the IPL trap.
"In the case of Sri Lanka, they played two Test matches and cancelled the third and also the one-day series to go and play in the IPL. We have a spineless cricket board that allowed this to happen. By doing this when we go to England we will also get to play only two Test matches. It is the younger generation who will lose by such acts.
"How can you stop the entire country from playing international cricket just to play in the IPL? There are seven cricketers from Sri Lanka in the IPL, out of which three or four are playing regularly and the rest are sitting on the bench. More than 300 cricketers are forced to stay at home doing nothing because of the IPL. It is not only hampering Sri Lankan cricket, but the entire world," Ranatunga was quoted.
Cricket | Indian Premier League | Ranatunga sorry for Indian cricket | ESPNSTAR.com
