Arjuna Ranatunga

Hon. Deshamanya
Arjuna Ranatunga
MP
Ranatunga in 2017
Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation
In office
20 December 2018 – 21 November 2019
PresidentMaithripala Sirisena
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
Preceded byNimal Siripala de Silva
Succeeded byMahinda Amaraweera
Ministry of Petroleum Resources Development
In office
22 May 2017 – 26 October 2018
PresidentMaithripala Sirisena
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
Preceded byChandima Weerakkody
Succeeded byKabir Hashim
Minister of Ports & Shipping
In office
12 January 2015 – 22 May 2017
PresidentMaithripala Sirisena
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
Preceded byMahinda Rajapaksa
Succeeded byMahinda Samarasinghe
Deputy Minister of Tourism
In office
2005–2008
PresidentMahinda Rajapaksa
Prime MinisterRatnasiri Wickremanayake
Member of Parliament
for Gampaha District
In office
2015–2020
Member of Parliament
for Kalutara District
In office
2010–2015
Member of Parliament
for Colombo District
In office
2001–2010
President of Sri Lanka Cricket
In office
2008–2009
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 November 2023
Personal details
Born (1963-12-01) 1 December 1963 (age 60)
Gampaha, Ceylon
(now in Sri Lanka)
Political partyDemocratic National Movement[1][2]
(2015– present)
Sri Lanka Freedom Party
(2001 - 2010, 2015)
Democratic National Alliance
(2010 - 2015)
Other political
affiliations		United National Front for Good Governance
(2015– present)
United People's Freedom Alliance
(2004–2010,2015)
People's Alliance
(2001–2004)
Alma materAnanda College Colombo
OccupationPolitician, Cricketer
Personal information
NicknameCaptain Cool
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
RoleBatsman
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 9)17 February 1982 v England
Last Test6 August 2000 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 24)14 February 1982 v England
Last ODI30 May 1999 v Kenya
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1982–2001Sinhalese Sports Club
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 93 269 205 307
Runs scored 5,105 7,456 11,641 8,491
Batting average 35.69 35.84 44.26 35.82
100s/50s 4/38 4/49 25/63 4/55
Top score 135* 131* 238* 131*
Balls bowled 2,120 4,710 7,096 4,255
Wickets 16 79 94 98
Bowling average 65.00 47.55 32.81 43.41
5 wickets in innings 0 0 2 0
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0
Best bowling 2/20 4/14 5/45 4/14
Catches/stumpings 47/– 63/– 108/– 78/–
Medal record
Men's Cricket
Representing  Sri Lanka
ICC Cricket World Cup
Winner 1996 India-Pakistan-Sri Lanka
Source: Cricinfo, 8 September 2015

Deshamanya Arjuna Ranatunga (Sinhala: අර්ජුන රණතුංග; Tamil: அர்ஜூன ரணதுங்க; born 1 December 1963), is a Sri Lankan politician and former cricketer, who was the 1996 Cricket World Cup winning captain for Sri Lanka, and scored the winning boundary in the final.[3][4] He is regarded as the pioneer who lifted the Sri Lankan cricket team from underdog status to a leading force in the cricketing world.[5]

After retirement, he worked in many posts of Sri Lanka Cricket administration.[6][7] By entering his father's stream of politics, Ranatunga started his political career in 2005, and is now the former cabinet Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation.[8]

Upon retirement from playing cricket he entered politics, joining the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and entered parliament, from Colombo District, in the 2001 elections.[9] He served a tenure as deputy minister for tourism, and also served as the president of Sri Lanka Cricket until December 2008.[10] He joined the Democratic National Alliance in 2010 and contested the 2010 elections. In January 2021, he revealed that he would distance himself from the United National Party and would not take part in party activities in the future.[11]

He was also known for nurturing young cricket talents including the likes of Praveen Jayawickrama in their young days to take up the sport of cricket seriously.[12] He was recently appointed the interim head of the Sri Lanka Cricket after the Sri Lankan government suspended the Sri Lanka Cricket Board after their loss to Indian Cricket Team in the ongoing Cricket World Cup.[13]

  1. ^ Edirisinghe, Dasun (21 January 2016). "DNM demands vacant UNP seat". The Island. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  2. ^ Gooneratne, Lankesh (2 February 2016). "Ekanayake scotches rumours". Ceylon Today. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  3. ^ Wijesekera, Bernie. "Sports". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Arjuna Ranatunga". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Arjuna versus". The Cricket Monthly. April 2017.
  6. ^ Thawfeeq, Sa'adi (31 December 2007). "Ranatunga appointed head of Sri Lanka Cricket". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  7. ^ Thawfeeq, Sa'adi; Fernando, Andrew (6 December 2015). "Arjuna Ranatunga to run for SLC vice-president". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Full list of Cabinet ministers". Daily Mirror. 20 December 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  9. ^ Brar, Hermant (5 November 2018). "Where are Herath's team-mates from his 1999 Test debut?". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Ranatunga takes up Sri Lanka post". BBC News. 2 January 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  11. ^ Abeysinghe, Shiromi (23 January 2021). "Arjuna walks away from UNP politics". Daily News. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  12. ^ "How Arjuna spotted and nurtured Praveen Jayawickrama". The Island. 5 May 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  13. ^ Ranatunga, Arjuna (6 November 2023). "Sri Lanka cricket board suspended after World Cup debacle, Arjuna Ranatunga to head interim cricket committee". crictoday. Retrieved 6 November 2023.