We can't learn from India anymore, feels Arjuna Ranatunga

There was a time when the budding cricketers of Sri Lanka looked upto India for learning the nuances of the game but former captain Arjuna Ranatunga feels this can no longer happen due to the advent of Twenty20.
"It's unfortunate that most youngsters only want to play the shorter version for financial gains. Let's be very clear that India won't have any more Sachin Tendulkar or a Sunil Gavaskar. You won't find the elegance of Tiger Pataudi," the World Cup winning Lankan captain told a select gathering after a seminar at the FICCI here today.
"It was a part of our learning process as youngsters to look upto Indian cricket. I don't think we can learn from India anymore," Ranatunga said when asked whether the rise of Twenty20 will lead to India playing lesser number of Test matches in the near future.

The 49-year-old, who played 93 Tests and 269 ODIs for his country, also seemed disappointed with the way Indian cricket board has functioned over the past few years.
"I think that BCCI should come under the Right To Information (RTI) act as they are not answerable to anyone, not even to their union sports ministry. That's why they do whatever they want. In Sri Lanka, at least we have the right to criticise Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in parliament and get it corrected," Ranatunga stated.
He is not against politicians entering sports administration but feels technical decisions should be taken by cricketers in the board.

"Cricketing decisions should be limited to cricketers. That's the reason I feel insecure as a cricketer when I find that a player of (Dilip) Vengsarkar's stature loses to a politician. (Vengsarkar had lost the MCA polls to Vilasrao Deshmukh). In Sri Lanka Cricket, most of the administrators are appointed with blessings of president."

Ranatunga reiterated that he is yet to digest as to why the erstwhile Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara made four changes in the 2011 World Cup final against India in Mumbai which the island nation lost.
"Four changes in a final. I was surprised sitting in a TV studio alongside Kapil (Dev). I told the channel to cross-check if it's right. There were players who were outsiders as far as that squad is concerned.

"I don't know what happened as only the Sri Lankan captain could tell us about those changes. I still believe we should have won that final.