Twitter lashes out at Arjuna Ranatunga for his 'don't behave like Indian fans' remark

It seems like former Sri Lankan captain and Minister of Petroleum Resources Development, Arjuna Ranatunga cannot seem to repel headlines with his controversial comments. This time around he was responsible for hurting the sentiments of the Indian community due to his ‘don’t behave like Indian fans’ remark.

Over the last few months, he has been amongst the headlines due to his repeated jibes at Sri Lankan Cricket President Thilanga Sumathipala for alleged links with bookies and gambling rings. He also wanted an ICC investigation for the 2011 World Cup finals between India and Sri Lanka which he claimed was fixed.

In the third ODI at Pallekele, Sri Lankans were on the verge of yet another series defeat and the fans expressed their disappointment by throwing objects in the vicinity of the boundary. This was the first time Sri Lankan cricket witnessed such instance where disappointed fans aimed to hurt their own players.

As a result, Ranatunga cited out the rich heritage of Sri Lankan Cricket and appealed to the fans never to iterate such behaviour in anguish. In the process, he made some remarks on the Indians which did not go down well with Twitterati.

“Such incidents should not be repeated. Sri Lankans love cricket and they feel sad when we lose a match. We have made lots of sacrifices for cricket and those sacrifices had been made while losing lots of things. Every cricketer in our team is mentally depressed,” commented Arjuna Ranatunga while addressing the media at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation head office.

“I request our cricket lovers not to behave like Indian spectators. We have a very good history and culture. Such misbehaviour is not accepted in our culture and history,” further added the Sri Lankan politician. As a result, he was at the receiving end of a severe backlash from the Indians on Twitter.

Here are some of the Tweets

Being a minister&formerCricketer @ArjunaRanatunga shdnt behave lyk SL'n fans. I cn undrstnd his frustration bt salvation lies in performance

— Shubham Kumar (@imshubhamkumar) August 30, 2017

3-0 tests and 3-0 one days @ home – enough said.Hope ur team learns a lesson.Little brother is always a little brother.Say what little bro:)

— Proud Indian Hindu (@sappana11) August 30, 2017

@ArjunaRanatunga A man who just have 4 test hundreds in his name (just equal to what our Aswin a batsman Cum bowler has in his name)

— Ajay Sharma (@ajay_saraswat18) August 30, 2017

@ArjunaRanatunga I think u should bite the words when u adresseed ur crowd for behaving like indian spectators.

— Rajesh Kaushik (@anshjunior) August 30, 2017

Think before you speak. Indian spectators are matured than srilankans @ArjunaRanatunga

— harikrishnaa (@harikrishnaa114) August 30, 2017

I strongly condemn your comments on Indian fans,,, @ArjunaRanatunga restrain from provocative words

— Praveen Kumaran (@MrThumbsup) August 30, 2017

By referring to Eden'O'96 you have made cricket poorer @arjunaranatunga

— Suresh(idly) (@sureshidly) August 30, 2017