Senaka Weeraratna

• Glaring Double Standard in Jay Shah’s ICC leadership including silence on ICC fraud, denying credit to Sri Lanka including a share of royalties of DRS  generated millions, and sheltering ICC lawyers without calling for show cause and accountability for professional criminal negligence, undermines Neighbourhood First foreign policy championed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• While Shah has traveled to Colombo demanding transparency, clean governance, and structural reforms within Sri Lanka Cricket, he stands accused of remaining silent and sheltering the ICC from accountability regarding its own multi-million dollar intellectual property dispute with a Sri Lankan citizen.
• The “Neighbourhood First” Friction: This institutional stance of ICC directly undermines the Neighbourhood First foreign policy championed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While Modi’s doctrine emphasizes regional solidarity, mutual growth, and uplifting South Asian neighbors, the perceived complicity of major cricket administrators in burying a Sri Lankan innovation highlights a systemic marginalization of smaller South Asian nations within the global cricket hierarchy.

Legal bodies like the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) and local sports historians continue to lobby for state-backed diplomatic intervention, demanding the system be formally renamed the Weeraratna Decision Review System (WDRS) to reflect its true origins.

India’s Neighbourhood First Policy is a diplomatic strategy prioritizing cooperative relations with immediate South Asian countries. It aims to boost trade, improve regional connectivity, and foster stability. The policy is guided by the Drishti IAS 5S framework: Samman (respect), Samvad (dialogue), Shanti (peace), Samriddhi (prosperity), and Sanskriti (culture).

The policy focuses its outreach on eight primary nations: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It heavily emphasizes a non-reciprocal approach, inspired by the Gujral Doctrine, meaning India offers concessions and assistance to smaller neighbors to build mutual trust and regional interdependence. [1, 2, 3]

India must come forward and unequivocally extend recognition to Sri Lanka for authorship of DRS – That is genuine  Neighbourhood First Policy.

The World will give a Standing Ovation to India for standing by 

Yato Dharmastato Jayah. (यतो धर्मस्ततो जयः) It is a powerful Sanskrit shloka that translates to “where there is dharma, there will be victory”. Originating from the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata, the phrase expresses the philosophical belief that righteousness and justice will ultimately prevail.

It is not for nothing that India is called ‘ Vishwa Guru’ (Teacher of the World)

‘What shall I do’? Arjuna asked Krishna in the famous dialogue in the Bhagavad Gita

Krishna replied ‘ Do your Duty, Arjuna’ 

Likewise India must discharge its duty to Sri Lanka on DRS. 

Tell Jay Shah to extend ICC recognition of DRS authorship to the Sri Lankan inventor and pay due compensation.

Thank you, India

Senaka Weeraratna