Sri Lankan cricket greats Ranatunga, Gurusinha and Tillakaratne to raise awareness about education at June 4 Washington event

The American Bazaar will host former Sri Lankan Captain Arjuna Ranatunga and two members of his 1996 World Cup-winning team, Asanka Gurusinha and Hashan Tillakaratne, in the Washington, DC, area on June 4.

The event, “An Evening with Legends,” will be held at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, and is expected to draw prominent members of the Sri Lankan and Indian diasporas.

A part of the proceeds of the event will go toward a nonprofit founded by Ranatunga, who also served as a Sri Lankan federal minister on multiple occasions.

The event is part of a multi-city tour of the US and Canada by the cricketers, during which they aim to raise awareness about empowering Sri Lankan youth through education and creating opportunities for their success.

In addition to the Washington area event, Ranatunga, Tillakaratne, and Gurusinha will attend a Richmond dinner hosted by entrepreneur Chiranth Nataraj and prominent Indian American social entrepreneur and philanthropy advisor Venky Raghavendra on June 2.

“Sports is a great force for good,” said Ranatunga. “I am so delighted to be with the cricketing and philanthropic community in Washington, DC, and Richmond, Virginia. I am equally delighted that my teammates from World Cup ’96 Hashan and Asanka will be with us.”

WHAT: “An Evening with Legends”
WHERE: Congressional Country Club Bethesda
WHEN: June 4, 2024, 6 p.m.
EVENT DETAILS: https://events.americanbazaaronline.com/
PURCHASE TICKETS

“I am happy to have the chance to bridge sports and philanthropy by engaging these legendary cricketers,” said Raghavendra. ” Sri Lanka is a special place, and I am lucky to have a long and deep association with the beautiful country and its people.”

A highlight of the evening will be a fireside chat hosted by Aziz Haniffa, Executive Editor of the digital platform DesiMax. Haniffa, who served as Washington correspondent and editor of India Abroad for over three decades, is an immigrant from Sri Lanka.

“I’m so much looking forward to engaging with Arjuna and his teammates and, once again, nostalgically reliving vicariously through them those magical moments over a quarter century ago that brought such unprecedented glory to Sri Lanka and the subcontinent as a whole and made us all so proud,” said Haniffa.

“Hence, I would strongly encourage all of those fanatical cricket fans in the Sri Lankan and South Asian diaspora communities in the Washington, DC, area to join us at this event and avail themselves of this opportunity to go down memory lane with these greats and also explore with Arjuna the idea behind his nonprofit in Sri Lanka and the catalytic role of cricket and sports in this venture.”

“An Evening with Legends” will be held in partnership with Janki Ganju Foundation, which honors the work and memory of Janki Ganju, a former Indian diplomat who served as a lobbyist and public relations official in Washington for the government of India for several decades.

The mission of the Janki Ganju Foundation, said Lalita Kaul, President of the Foundation, is to provide scholarships, fellowships, and other forms of educational assistance to promote cultural exchange activities between India and the United States.

“The mission of the cricketing legends aligns with that of the Foundation,” Kaul, a Howard University professor, said. “We are delighted to be part of the event, which aims to raise awareness about empowering Sri Lankan youth through education and creating opportunities for their success, a cause critical to the uplift of the larger South Asia region.

Ranatunga led an upstart Sri Lankan team to a fairy tale victory in the 1996 World Cup final against the odds-on favorite Australia. Chasing a target of 242 against the likes of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, along with Vice Captain Aravinda DeSilva, who scored a brilliant 107, Ranatunga was involved in an unbeaten century partnership, contributing an undefeated 37-ball 47.

Ranatunga made his debut at age 18, in February 1982, against England, in Sri Lanka’s very first Test. The 54 he scored in the first innings was the first Test half-century made by a Sri Lankan. Over an 18-year career, he played 93 Tests and 269 One-Day Internationals, scoring 5,105 runs in Tests and 7,456 runs in ODIs.

In 2001, after his retirement from cricket, Ranatunga was elected to the Sri Lankan parliament. Since then, he has served as a minister on four occasions, most recently as a Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation from December 2018 to November 2019.

Gurusinha, known for his versatility and technical proficiency, enjoyed an illustrious international cricket career spanning 11 years. He played in 41 Test matches and 147 One Day Internationals (ODIs), amassing 2,452 and 3,902 runs, respectively. In the ’96 final, batting at his customary No. 3 position, the left-handed batsman played a pivotal innings, making a crucial 65 runs. Notably, Gurusinha was not only a solid batsman but also showcased his skills as a wicketkeeper and a gentle medium-pacer, making him one of the rare cricketers capable of fulfilling multiple roles on the field.

Fellow left-handed batsman-wicketkeeper Tillakaratne played 83 Tests and 200 ODIs for Sri Lanka, scoring 4,545 runs and 3,789 runs, respectively, in the two formats. He scored 11 centuries, including a double hundred.