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Arjuna Ranatunga Questions Siraj and ACC's Noble Gesture Towards Groundsmen

image-lmsqgjtzGroundsmen Working in Heavy Rain(Source: X/ACC)

The Asia Cup 2023 was a resounding success, majorly due to the efforts of the groundsmen who ensured that the rain did not have any impact on the games despite heavy rainfall. The Colombo weather took a toll on the ground staff, who gave it their all and, in fact, received not just applause or praise but monetary gain as the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) decided to award them with US$50,000.

The good luck didn't stop there as the Player of the Match in the final, Mohammed Siraj, also gave his award money to them. This gesture received some wonderful responses on social media and the internet as the Indian pacer was lauded for being a true gentleman.

However, things have not gone down well with former Sri Lankan cricketer Arjuna Ranatunga, who is concerned with this. Ranatunga is not pleased with ACC and even Siraj donating to the groundsmen as he thinks that previous Indian teams have been here as well, but they did not make any gesture like this.

"I have one question. There have been many Indian tours of Sri Lanka. Some games were washed out, while some were played due to the dedicated service of the ground staff. But I have never witnessed anyone awarding them cash prizes. I like it very much if the money is given to someone, and not stolen. But then, the Man of the Match too gave his prize money to the staff at the end of the tournament,"

According to him, there must be a motive, as even the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) haven't made payments of this kind. Adding to it, he asked the media to investigate the matter, which he believes is more than what is being perceived.

"The groundsmen rendered their services for all these years, but not even the administration of Sri Lanka Cricket has made payments of this nature. These are the facts that media must investigate."

Ranatunga's statement is shocking as he considers these cash payments questionable because they don't know what is happening behind the scenes. Nevertheless, only time will tell if these payments made were genuine or not.