Nishantha Ranatunga (born January 22, 1966, Gampaha) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played two ODIs in 1993. An all-rounder of note in domestic cricket, he is the brother of former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanjeeva Ranatunga and Dammika Ranatunga.
Ranatunga is current secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket, the governing body of cricket in Sri Lanka.
He served as the secretary of the government-appointed interim-committee that was in charge of the cricket board when stadiums were built and renovated for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. The then sports minister referred to the cricket board under Ranatunga as "the third most corrupt institution in the country".
Ranatunga was previously appointed by the UPFA government as the director general of the state-owned Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation.
In January, 2012, he was elected uncontested as the secretary of the cricket board, despite leaving the cricket board in dire financial crisis from his previous tenure.
There has been a lot of controversy over Ranatunga's role as CEO of a television channel, which is owned by president Mahinda Rajapaksa's family, that the cricket board awarded broadcast rights to. Critics say that Ranatunga's role as the CEO of Carlton Sports Network while being the secretary at Sri Lanka Cricket is a conflict of interest.
On July 18, 2012, former media manager Brian Thomas, who served in Ranatunga's administration during the 2011 World Cup, was critical of Ranatunga's handling of the ICC World Cup 2011 in an article on a Sri Lankan newspaper.
In June, 2012, former Pakistani cricketer Rameez Raja, now a television commentator, was also critical of Ranatunga's administration after Sri Lanka's players went without wages for close to a year in 2011. Sri Lanka Cricket was in a dire financial crisis after the construction of World Cup stadia exceeded the budget, leaving the cricket board in $70 million US dollars in debt.