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Jayantha Dharmadasa has resigned as chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket , paving the way for Arjuna Ranatunga, the former Sri Lankan captain, to take over. Sources close to the board have confirmed that Ranatunga will take over.Ranatunga was a perfect playet in Sri lankan cricket team and now he will become a Chairman and i think he makes the team very powerful and stronge as like a 1996 Sri lankan team.

The board’s media manager, Samantha Algama, said Dharmadasa sent in his resignation to the secretary of the Sports Ministry citing ‘personal reasons’. Following Ranatunga’s appointment, changes are also expected in the current cricket administration.

Dharmadasa was appointed interim chairman on March 24, 2005 by former Sports Minister Jeevan Kumaratunga and ran the day to day administration for close to three years. He replaced the democratically elected body of Mohan de Silva, whose administration was accused of mishandling the board’s funds.

Ranatunga, 42, served briefly on the present administration’s cricket committee before resigning on the grounds that he was not happy at the way progress was being made. He has been a strong campaigner for change in the domestic cricket set up and feared that, unless radical steps were taken, Sri Lanka cricket was heading for disaster with no quality players coming out of the present system.

Having led Sri Lanka to victory in the 1996 World Cup, Ranatunga quit international cricket in 2000 after playing 93 Tests and 269 one-dayers and began a career in politics, following in the footsteps of his father who is a minister in the present government.