Kumar Sangakkara, undoubtedly one of the greatest batsman, the world cricket has ever witnessed! His batting records challenges all other greats of his era like Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and are sometime superior also. Not only as a batsman, as an ambassador of the game as well, Sangakkara has marked his authority in world cricket, most memorably his Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Cowdrey Lecture in 2011, that won millions of heart across the globe. Then, he became the first non-British President of MCC when he took the office on October 1 last year.
So, when Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) secretary Mohan De Silva, on Friday, openly backed Sangakkara for International Cricket Council (ICC) presidency, everyone welcomed the idea with open mind.
“We are waiting for Sangakkara’s term be over at the MCC. Once his term is over there, we have a plan to utilize his knowledge at the SLC. We also want to promote him for the big post in the ICC” Mohan De Silva told a local news paper on Friday.
“All these years, there has been no ICC president / chairman from Sri Lanka and Sanga is the ideal candidate for this post.” “Once we nominate him, will seek support from other Board members,” he added further.
Indeed, it looks obvious! If we thinks about India, first player comes in mind who can be the ICC president one day is Sourav Ganguly. Likewise, If we thinks about Sri Lanka, the two players comes in mind who can be the ICC president are – legendary Arjuna Ranatunga and Sangakkara!
However, when Cricket Age inquired, it learnt that Mohan De Silva’s statement on Sangakkara carries certain agendas.
Did he make that statement as a SLC secretary? The answer is No, based on Cricket Age findings within Sri Lanka Cricket. Majority of SLC past and present administrators and officials didn’t endorse Mohan De Silva sentiment, largely because of the certain protocols, which plays the important role in nominating someone for ICC top posts for any cricket board. Many are on the opinion that to become an ICC President, one needs to be associated with the governing body as one of the director of the governing body. So, even if SLC people thinks on Sangakkara, they can’t nominated him directly, as he will be termed as an outsider. It also revealed that none of the SLC top officials, administrators have discussed about this matter as at, as Maitland place has remained closed since last one month.
So, was Mohan De Silva making that statement as a loyal of former SLC president Thilanga Sumatipala? The answer is Yes, based on Cricket Age findings within Sri Lanka Cricket.
“Though, Sangakkara, along with iconic Arjuna Ranatunga, deserves to become ICC president, it’s bizarre that Mohan De Silva is floating this topic at this time of period, when former left handers MCC tenure has just recently extended till September 2021. Before Sangakkara’s turn over, the SLC is schedulled to go for an election. Considering this fact, it seems rather than showing SLC sentiment, Mohan De Silva has spoken on behalf of Sumathipala” a former SLC administrator told Cricket Age.
Aldo, we one look at ICC current situation, even then Mohan De Silva’s statement seems untimely, a hurried one! Shashank Manohar, ICC present President who was earlier expected to step down in June, has been given couple of months extension as the world governing body’s board meetings remains suspended due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. When Manohar steps down, England Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Colin Graves has already been touted as next ICC Chief. So, not only Sangakkara is committed to MCC till September 2021, ICC Top post also won’t be available until October 2022.
Scenario is crystal clear. Though, Sangakkara deserves to become ICC president, this is not the appropriate time to talk about this. More importantly, he must not be backed by those people, who have been internationally accused for match fixing! In September 2019, Sumathipala was formally banned from holding any position at SLC following a directive issued by then Sports Minister Harin Fernando, based on the findings and recommendations made by a three-member committee appointed by the Minister. Sumathipala’s ouster was based on a report given by the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ICC ACU) that had found, among other concerns, instances of transactions between Sporting Star – a Sri Lankan bookmaking business, and a British bookmaker.
So, if Sumathipala, with some kind of hidden agenda (and, he always carries plenty of hidden agendas with him) has decided to float Sangakkara’s name, it wuld be nothing sort of disaster. Reason, world Cricket will never ever consider a candidate, who will be backed by tainted cricket administrator like Sumathipala! It may do more harm than good for Sangakkara. The last thing the pearl of Sri Lanka cricket need, is the backing of tainted peoples.
And, in this particular development, it seems that Mohan De Silva has Offers Punchi Borella Flight To Sangakkara For ICC Presidency!
