Sri Lankan spectators had thrown plastic bottles and interrupted the match during the third ODI match on Sunday.
Arujan Ranatunga is well known for making controversial statements and stirring the pot. The World Cup-winning cricket captain who is now a minister in the Sri Lanka government has mostly in the news nowadays for his remarks about something or the other.
Now, Ranatunga has again said something that many Indian fans could have a problem with. Ranatunga has requested Sri Lankan cricket fans to 'stop behaving like Indian spectators' at the end of cricket matches. He was referring to the incident at the end of the third one-day international match between India and Sri Lanka in Pallekele.
According to the reports in local media, Ranatunga made these remarks while talking to the media at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Head Office. He said an incident had been reported as spectators had thrown plastic bottles into the ground during the third ODI match at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
“Such incidents should not be repeated. Sri Lankans love cricket and they feel sad when we lose a match. We have made lots of sacrifices for cricket and those sacrifices had been made while loosing lots of things. Every cricketer in our team is mentally depressed,” he said.
"I request our cricket lovers not to behave like Indian spectators. We have a very good history and culture. Such misbehaviour is not accepted in our culture and history,” Ranatunga said.
Of course, Ranatunga was referring to the few similar incidents in India where fans have displayed their displeasure at team's poor performance. Ranatunga was on the field during the infamous World Cup semifinal match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata where fans turned unruly after India's batting collapsed.
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 "Arjuna Ranatunga, India vs Sri Lanka, Pallekele")
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