Malinga cannot say he’s a freelancer – Arjuna

Former Sri Lanka Captain Arjuna Ranatunga, scathingly attacking on a recent statement made by Lasith Malinga, said the Sri Lanka fast bowler cannot justifiably say that he is a freelancer.

Ranatunga, speaking in a live TV talk show on Monday (May 22) night, proved his point saying that Malinga was selected, trained and introduced to the international arena by Sri Lanka and the local cricket board and therefore after achieving good status, he cannot say that he is a freelancer.

"It was our cricket coaches who found him. Our cricket board made him who he is today, provided him with all the basic needs and introduced him to the outside world. So it is wrong for him to say he is only a freelancer and play for the Ambanis (referring to the current IPL tournament where Malinga is playing for Mumbai Indians, owned by business tycoon Mukesh Ambani et al)," argued Ranatunga, a fervent critic of the latest twenty20 cricket format and the franchise-based T20 tournaments, especially the IPL.

He criticised the IPL saying it gives a bad precedence to the emerging cricketers.

"The team owners and film stars, like Shah Ruk Khan and Preity Zinta, too are mingling with the players in the same dressing rooms. They try to teach the players how to bat and bowl. I wouldn’t have tolerated if such a thing happened to me. I’d have chased them out if such people came and tried to teach me how to play the game. As cricketers, we need to learn to protect self respect," Ranatunga explained.

Ranatunga said the Sri Lanka Cricket needs to seriously think whether the country really needs to hold a local T20 tournament in the IPL model and cautioned the sports authorities here saying they should take the responsibility if any such tournament brings the country unwanted trends in the sport.

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