Amãna Bank commemorates Cricket World Cup win

Amãna Bank CEO Mohamed Azmeer presenting a special memento to Arjuna Ranatunga

Reminiscing the nostalgic moment which brought the entire country to an aura of celebrations, Amãna Bank recently commemorated the 25th Anniversary of Sri Lanka’s famous 1996 Cricket World Cup victory. As part of its commemorations, the bank carried out a quiz competition on its social media platforms, where a series of questions were asked on the Sri Lankan team’s performance during the World Cup. Having answered all the questions correctly, Kavisha Senaweera, Uzmaan Ghouse and Ishrath Imtiaz were selected as the three lucky winners. 

A special event under the distinguished patronage of World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga was held at the bank’s premises to reward the respective winners, which was also attended by the bank’s Chief Executive Officer Mohamed Azmeer, Chief Risk Officer M. M. S. Quvylidh, Chief Information Officer Rajitha Dissanayake, VP Operations Imtiaz Iqbal, VP Retail Banking and Marketing Siddeeque Akbar and Head of Legal Sulani Dayaratne. In addition to rewarding the winners, the bank presented a special token to Arjuna Ranatunga in gratitude and recognition for the team’s incredible feat of bringing glory to the country.

Commenting on the event proceedings, Arjuna Ranatunga said: “It is an honour and joy to witness the sentiments and emotions of the public towards our famous victory 25 years ago. Against many odds, we were able to bring victory and glory to Sri Lanka and unite the entire country as one, around this historic win. I am thankful to Amãna Bank for valuing and reliving this moment. I would also like to congratulate the three winners for their exemplary knowledge of our World Cup campaign.”

Also sharing his thoughts on the bank’s flagship CSR initiative OrphanCare, Ranatunga said: “Myself, having a strong passion towards supporting and caring for orphans, I am truly inspired by the bank’s OrphanCare venture which assists orphan children as they move to adulthood, a transition period in which they are very much forgotten and neglected. I look forward to engage with this noble cause and I believe cricket, like it has united 20 million people, will be a great platform to take this message to the general public and internationally.”

Commenting on the event, the bank’s Chief Executive Officer Mohamed Azmeer said: “We are truly honoured and privileged to have Arjuna Ranatunga with us today as we reward the winners of our 1996 World Cup commemoration quiz competition. The platform of cricket has ignited patriotism within the hearts of every Sri Lankan and this was testified by the overwhelming response we received for our social media competition. 

“Having heard Captain Cool’s words of wisdom and experience, it is truly inspiring to witness such charismatic and value driven leadership, which resulted in victory. I believe each of us can learn from such great leadership. We are also thankful for Arjuna’s words of encouragement on our OrphanCare initiative and look forward to his engagement and support in this regard.” 

The event was concluded by Amãna Bank staff member Marshad Barry presenting a book he had authored in Sinhala on the World Cup history to Arjuna Ranatunga.

Amãna Bank PLC is a stand-alone institution licensed by the Central Bank and listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange with Jeddah based IsDB Group being the principal shareholder having a 29.97% shareholding of the bank. The IsDB Group is an ‘AAA’ rated multilateral development financial institution with a membership of 57 countries. Amãna Bank does not have any subsidiaries, associates or affiliated institutions, other than the ‘OrphanCare’ Trust.

Recognising the winners (from left): Amãna Bank VP - Retail Banking and Marketing Siddeeque Akbar, CEO Mohamed Azmeer, Arjuna Ranatunga, and three winners Uzmaan Ghouse, Kavisha Senaweera and Ishrath Imtiaz

Arjuna Ranatunga along with members of the bank’s Management Committee (from left): VP - Retail Banking and Marketing Siddeeque Akbar, VP - Operations Imtiaz Iqbal, CEO Mohamed Azmeer, Arjuna Ranatunga, Head of Legal Sulani Dayaratne, Chief Risk Officer M. M. S. Quvylidh, and Chief Information Officer Rajitha Dissanayake