Sri Lanka great Arjuna Ranatunga‘s transformation has taken social media by storm. The World Cup-winning captain under whom Sri Lanka reached the pinnacle of world cricket in 1996 recently posed for a picture with the legendary Kapil Dev, where he, simply put, looks unrecognisable. Having lost oodles of weight, Ranatunga, 60 is nowhere close to resembling his previous self, with fans in awe of his transformation.
Ranatunga, who loves to call a spade a spade, has surprisingly remained mum about his fitness journey. Also, this is not the first image of a slim Ranatunga making the rounds. Last year, during the Asia Cup, Ranatunga, while addressing the whole hybrid-model concept and the lack of reserve days for matches barring India vs Pakistan, did not sound pleased. Still, the biggest takeaway from that chat was Ranatunga’s physique. While not much is known about when and how Ranatunga’s transformation came about, it sure has to do with working out, contrary to some reports that claimed the weight loss is due to some illness.
In his playing days, Ranatunga was known for controversially requesting a runner during long innings due to concerns about his fitness, a move that once upset former Australia captain Ian Healy to the extent that he used expletives and abused his then-counterpart.
Ranatunga is one of Sri Lanka’s most decorated players of all time. Making his Sri Lanka debut at the age of 18, Ranatunga went on to play 93 Tests and 269 ODIs for his country. More than a great cricketer, he was an astute and inspiring leader, standing up for his players. Who can forget Ranatunga leading his team off the field in an ODI against Australia in Adelaide as umpire Ross Emerson constantly no-balled Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing.
Besides leading Sri Lanka to their greatest triumph, Ranatunga also captained the team to its maiden Test win in England in 1998 and the Asia Cup a year prior. In 1999 though, Ranatunga’s captaincy graph declined, and after Sri Lanka’s shoddy show, he was sacked as captain. Two years later, Ranatunga retired as an active cricketer and ventured into commentary before exploring the ICC as a member of its cricketing committee.
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