On this Day in 2000: Srilanka Legend Arjuna Ranatunga Retired From International Cricket

The only Sri Lankan captain to date to win an ODI World Cup is Arjuna Ranatunga, who announced his retirement on August 10, 2000. He led his team to victory in the 1996 championship despite being the underdog. In addition to serving as captain, Ranatunga also made an important contribution to Sri Lankan cricket as a batsman. Ranatunga, who made his international debut in 1982, was outstanding for the Lankans in both ODI and Test forms. He played his last game on the same day but 22 years ago.

Ranatunga participated in Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test match against England at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo in 1982. He made fifty in the game’s first innings, but the visitors triumphed by seven wickets. At the SSC Ground in Colombo in 2000, Ranatunga later played in the nation’s 100th Test match. Arjuna scored just 13 runs in two innings against Pakistan, contributing to the home team’s five-wicket defeat.

Thus, Arjuna Ranatunga has the distinction of being the only player to have participated in both a team’s first Test and its 100th Test. The 100th Test was played by Sri Lanka during the home series against Pakistan. Ranatunga made the announcement that he would give up playing after the home season at the conclusion of the series. After the 1999 World Cup disaster, he lost his position as captain. He was unable to participate in an ODI after the competition, but he did play Test cricket for a full year and eventually hung his shoes in 2000.

At the age of 18, Ranatunga made his Test debut for Sri Lanka and scored his nation’s maiden Test half-century. For nearly 20 years, he dominated cricket pitches around the world. He was never afraid of conflict and vigorously defended his players’ rights, most notably Muthiah Muralidaran, the team’s spin-bowling talisman, against accusations of chucking.

Ranatunga had an extraordinary ability to keep the scoreboard moving despite his relative inability to scamper the quick single. He did this by employing deft placing on both sides of the wicket and fluent driving through the off side in particular. Despite the fact that his bowling was infrequent in the latter stages of his career, he was a deceptive and effective medium-pace bowler.

Despite retiring from international cricket a year after losing the captaincy due to Sri Lanka’s poor performance in the 1999 World Cup, he made a significant contribution to Sri Lankan cricket. He entered politics but left his position as junior minister for tourism in 2006 to focus on his administrative duties for cricket. After being fired in December 2008 for making several unpopular decisions, Ranatunga returned to politics full-time and later served as Sri Lanka’s minister of ports, highways, and shipping in the middle of the 2010s. Ranatunga was appointed chairman of the cricket board in January 2008.