Sport | Cricket
Sangakkara not opening batsman, says Ranatunga
The president of Sri Lanka Cricket has said Kumar Sangakkara should not open the batting.
- By K.R. Nayar, Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:14 July 5, 2008
Dubai: The president of Sri Lanka Cricket has said Kumar Sangakkara should not open the batting.
Arjuna Ranatunga, the former skipper turned president, said Sangakkara was too good a player to be first in.
"Personally I don't like Sangakkara opening the innings. He is too good a player to be sacrificed as an opener," he told Gulf News.
Ranatunga, who led Sri Lanka to World Cup victory in 1996, said he was delighted with the performance of his team in the ongoing Asia Cup where they will play in the final against India today.
"Fortunately for our team, Sangakkara has done well with the bat and things are going well for the team.
"The wickets in Pakistan for the Asia Cup are very good batting tracks and even 300 runs is not a safe total. So it will be a very interesting final," he added.
Ranatunga, who is also the President of the Asian Cricket Council, said he believed the competition was wide opener when it kicked off.
'Big advantage'
He said: "From the start of the Asia Cup, I had this feeling that all three countries (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) have the chance to become the champions.
"I think Sri Lanka has done well because our top order batsmen from No.1 to No.6 have got runs consistently. This is a big advantage on batting wickets."
Ranatunga, who scored 5,105 runs in 93 Test matches and 7,456 runs in 269 one-dayers scored runs in Tests and in One-dayers, has had to deal with major financial issues since taking over a head of Sri Lankan cricket.
He said: "Due to the Indian tour coming up, we have managed to tide over our financial difficulties. The game is shaping up well in our country and we are negotiating with a few countries for some tours."
The president said his plans would have been very different if there had been cash available.
He said: "If we had money in our bank when I got took over as the president it would have been ideal.
"I could have done some investments at the schools level and also in the interior parts of our country and unearthed talents."
Ranatunga is hopeful of further strengthening his team that had finished runners up in the last World Cup.
"A lot of talented players are coming up. All that we need to do is focus and invest on them," he said.
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