COLOMBO — A senior Sri Lankan opposition parliamentarian has claimed that the recent removal of the country's cricket board leadership was orchestrated through a behind-the-scenes agreement among President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and International Cricket Council Chairman Jay Shah.
Dayasiri Jayasekara, a Samagi Jana Balawegaya lawmaker and former Sports Minister, made the allegation during an appearance on the political talk show Derana 360 last week, saying he was convinced that the quiet departure of the Shammi Silva-led Sri Lanka Cricket executive committee was the product of coordination at the highest levels.
“I strongly feel that the ICC had been balanced on this occasion by the President through his close connections with Indian Prime Minister Modi,” Mr. Jayasekara said, adding that under the purported arrangement, Mr. Modi would have prevailed upon Mr. Shah, who heads the Dubai-based ICC, to acquiesce to a transitional body overseeing Sri Lanka Cricket until new elections are held.
Sri Lanka Cricket's executive committee, led by Mr. Silva, stepped down late last month and was replaced by a Cricket Transformation Committee, or CTC, chaired by former parliamentarian Eran Wickramaratne.
Mr. Jayasekara said the absence of any legal challenge from Mr. Silva was itself evidence of a prior understanding. In November 2023, the ICC suspended Sri Lanka's membership after then-Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe dismissed the same executive committee following the national team's poor performance at the Men's 50-over World Cup in India — a move Mr. Silva successfully challenged in the Court of Appeal, securing a stay order that restored his administration. The ICC lifted the suspension only after Sri Lanka Cricket was reconstituted through a legally defensible process.
This time, Mr. Jayasekara argued, no such legal challenge materialised precisely because Mr. Silva had received assurances from Mr. Shah that the transition would be managed in a manner protecting his interests, including the possibility of fielding a preferred candidate in future elections.
"It is also obvious as to why Shammi decided to quit so quietly when asked to do so," Mr. Jayasekara said. "That is because Jay Shah, with whom he is quite close, would have also advised Shammi to step aside till an election is held."
The claims have not been independently verified. Neither the President's office, the Indian High Commission in Colombo, nor the ICC responded to requests for comment at the time of publication. Sri Lanka Cricket has not issued any statement addressing the circumstances of the leadership change.
Mr. Jayasekara, who served as Sports Minister from 2015 to 2018 under President Maithripala Sirisena, acknowledged that the newly constituted CTC was composed of capable individuals and described Mr. Wickramaratne as a seasoned administrator. He declined, however, to pass a definitive verdict on the committee's prospects, saying its credibility would ultimately rest on performance, both administrative and on the field.
"In my opinion, areas such as discipline, fitness, and match concentration of players need urgent remedial work if Sri Lanka is to restart its journey to get back to the top across all formats," he said. "The players have to show consistency in each of these areas, or else, the so-called transformation brought about by this Government will turn out to be a false dawn in time to come."
Sri Lanka's cricket administration has been a recurring source of political controversy, with successive governments accused of treating the board as a vehicle for patronage and factional maneuvering.
