Following Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup exit before the semi-finals, an old video clip of former World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga is again being widely circulated on social media, in which he is accusing International Cricket Council (ICC) president Jay Shah of having so called partnership with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials!
Ranatunga’s, who won the 1996 World Cup, but now resides in USA and is unable to touch down his motherland due to the fear of getting arrested over corruption allegations during his tenure as petroleum minister, doesn’t come as a shock, but frustration and utter jealousy with the remarkable rise of Jay Shah!
That’s the reason, Ranatunga, over the years, has repeatedly accused Jay Shah on utterly baseless ground!
In November 2023, Ranatunga alleged that Jay Shah was “running” and “ruining” Sri Lanka Cricket. It was so embarrassing and illogical that even Island’s then President Ranil Wickremesinghe was forced to call Jay Shah to express regret over the remarks blaming him for the collapse of Sri Lankan cricket.
One of his brothers Sanjeewa Ranatunga also recently echoed the same sentiments during his visit to Kandy. Sanjeewa, who secured almost every Insurance tender at SLC during his another brother Nishantha Ranatunga’s tenure at Maitland Place, now talks frequently about various Cricket issues on social media and presents Jay Shah as a villain for Sri Lanka Cricket!
Not only Arjuna, in recent past, his entire family has been accused of corruption! Arjuna’s elder brother, Dhammika Ranatunga was the Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation at that time. He has already been arrested and later released on bail. The magistrate has imposed a travel ban on Dhammika. He holds dual citizenship of the United States and Sri Lanka. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for March 13.
Another Ranatunga brother, Prasanna Ranatunga, a former Tourism Minister, was arrested last month in an insurance fraud case. That case is still pending, but he had already been convicted in June 2022 on charges of extorting money from a businessman. He was given a two-year suspended prison sentence.
The case against the Ranatunga brothers is part of a broader crackdown launched by the government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who came to power last year promising to tackle widespread corruption.
Even the, Arjuna dare to talk about Jay Shah! In this case, the Ranatunga brothers need to visit India to see Jay Shah’s impact!
In the complex theatre of global cricket governance where influence is often inherited and continuity mistaken for progress, Jay Shah stands out as a reformer with intent. At just 35 he became the youngest ICC Chair in history, yet his career trajectory is built not on privilege but on a pattern of tangible achievements. His rise from the Gujarat Cricket Association to the BCCI, the Asian Cricket Council, and now the ICC represents a rare blend of operational acumen, strategic vision, and generational freshness.
Under Shah’s stewardship, the Board of Control for Cricket in India redefined the economics of sport. The IPL media rights auction of 2022 fetched over $6.2 billion, doubling the previous cycle’s value and cementing the league as the world’s second-richest sporting property by per-match valuation. This wasn’t just a financial triumph; it established the IPL as a benchmark for franchise sports worldwide.
He also oversaw the landmark central contract revision for women cricketers, ensuring pay parity with the men’s team for match fees – a first in Indian sport. The move wasn’t symbolic; it was structural, acknowledging women’s cricket as a professional equal.
Post-pandemic, when the domestic structure risked erosion, Shah prioritised its reboot. The Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare tournaments were restructured to feed into IPL scouting. He also spearheaded the expansion of the women’s domestic calendar, paving the way for the Women Premier League’s successful debut.
As President of the Asian Cricket Council, Shah successfully revived the Asia Cup as a commercially viable, multi-venue tournament and balanced competing national interests amid political sensitivities. He also restructured the ACC’s finances to provide guaranteed funding for associate members, expanding Asia’s cricket footprint to Nepal, Hong Kong, and the UAE.
Shah championed the creation of the WPL in 2023, securing broadcast and franchise bids worth nearly ₹4,700 crore combined. The league’s inaugural season drew record digital audiences and demonstrated the commercial viability of women’s cricket in India. It was arguably his most socially significant contribution to the game’s evolution.
His election as ICC Chair in 2024 was not merely procedural; it symbolised the sport’s acknowledgement of a younger, commercially astute generation of administrators. His stated focus areas – technology integration, calendar reform, and geographic expansion suggest a forward-leaning vision rooted in execution, not rhetoric.
Unlike many predecessors known for eloquent speeches but slow reform, Shah’s identity is built on deliverables: revenue growth, player welfare, gender parity, and regional balance. His track record speaks in KPIs, not platitudes. Shah represents the first generation of cricket administrators fluent in both traditional cricket culture and digital-age fandom. He understands data, distribution, and fan engagement as much as he understands dressing-room politics. Where earlier ICC chiefs either entrenched dominance era or overcorrected with idealism, Shah’s approach is hybrid. He recognises India’s commercial heft but pairs it with rhetoric of inclusion, particularly through Associate-nation development and Olympic alignment.
In total, what Jay Shah has done for cricket in just under one decade, many of his predecessors couldn’t achieve in their lifetime!
