'Kohli has a long way to go'

Arjuna Ranatunga has worn many hats. As player and captain, he put Sri Lankan cricket on the world map. And as a cricket administrator, he tried to set many things right though quite often he didn’t get the mandate to do so.

Sri Lanka’s first and only World Cup winning captain (in 1996) has forever called a spade a spade, and therefore isn’t exactly popular in the corridors of power. That hasn’t stopped him from remaining his outspoken self. Having recently taken over as the Petroleum Minister in the Lankan government, Ranatunga is a busy man and admits that he doesn’t watch much cricket these days. That hasn’t prevented him from thinking about cricket though. In this freewheeling chat, Ranatunga discusses a range of issues. Excerpts:

What are the main challenges facing Sri Lanka cricket now?

Cricket… (laughs). To tell you honestly, I stopped watching cricket. I read the newspaper, but I hardly watch cricket. I was very disappointed after the last cricket elections. There are rules in this country, and I was not eligible to contest as the president. So I thought I have to, being in the government, go through the law properly. And I had the opportunity to contest for a vice-presidency, which I lost. This is not the first time it has happened… Cricket was something like a religion to this nation, and we don’t have a religion now. I think a lot of people don’t watch cricket. You can imagine, if I’m not watching cricket, how can you expect others to watch cricket? That is nothing to do with the cricketers. It’s all about bad and wrong administration.

How frustrating has it been to see things transpire the way they are today?
It’s been very frustrating. I was the first one to come to out of (existing) regime (government) to form another regime. We were two to three of us to leave the government and I was the first among them to leave the former president (Mahinda Rajapaksa). We formed this new government to get the country right, and I feel country is getting there. But unfortunately cricket isn’t getting there and that’s the worst part. To tell you honestly, it’s very frustrating because we are a very talented cricketing nation. People don’t know how to handle them. It’s all about mind game but they talk about physique and no one talks about cricket fitness. A lot of people are talking about the bodies and the six packs. Then you get models. I always say pick 15 models and tell them to play cricket.

Sri Lanka has been known for encouraging unconventional cricketers like Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis et al. Do you think that system still exists?
I personally feel we shouldn’t stop them from coming up. We shouldn’t go into these cricket theories, you need to identify the talent and groom them. I think that’s where we are lacking. I can remember, when we were playing we never had these physios and trainers. We had local trainers who didn’t know anything about cricket and they were trying to get us into cricket fitness but it was up to us to get cricket fitness. If you take Chaminda Vaas, Pramoday Vikramasinghe, Ravindra Pushpakumara (all former Lankan medium pacers)… When they came to practice, they would bowl for one and half hours without any stops and only after that would they take a break. They would be match-fit by the time they went to play matches. Now, apparently the system is totally different. They bowl about only 30 balls per day. And even for the batsmen, it’s the same. We used to bat for at least 45 minutes and sometimes even one hour. That’s where you gain cricket fitness.

How do you rate Virat Kohli as a captain?

I have seen him as a batsman but I still can’t rate him as a captain and as a batsman I rate him very highly. I am not putting him down as captain but he has a long way to go to achieve a lot of things. If you want me to compare him now with Indian top captains like (Mohammad) Azharuddins, (MS) Dhonis and if I take captains of my time like Kapil Dev, he has a long way to go. I still feel they were really top-class captains.

You spoke about top class captains. What makes top class captains, are there particular characteristics or is it instinctive?

I think both. I always say as a captain I always used to admire Imran Khan, starting with Kapil Dev because he won a World Cup when I was 19, so I thought if Kapil can win a World Cup as India captain why can’t Sri Lanka win. Then in 1992 Imran won. It was more like a double thing: If India can win, Pakistan can win why can’t we win? So these are thinking I always had. I am a very positive guy. If you look at the Indian side in 1983, it was not the best side India has produced. There were one or two top cricketers surrounded by bits and pieces cricketers. If you take my team in 1996, it was the same sort of team we had. Imran’s team was totally different. Depending on the places and conditions, you need to adjust quickly and a captain is a person who will listen to all nine-10 players but ultimately take a decision, more like without listening to anyone. It is all about how he feels. I think that is the strength I had. I was never afraid to take decisions.