It was Sunday April 6, 2014
A country blessed with a wealth of untapped talent and an uncanny ability to squander has finally found a genuine reason to cheer. A game played and celebrated everywhere from paddy fields to apartment buildings has become a personal milestone, like liquid sunshine that sparks our blood to embrace the true meaning of unity and teamwork.
What made the old uncles spend six hours drinking old Mendis Special (a liquor brand in Sri Lanka), while watching T20 world cup cricket semi final highlights of India effortlessly chasing South Africa’s second innings score, dissecting strategies on how to get modern batting hero Virat Kohli out in their own parallel universe at a modest restaurant, can be summed up in one egregious reason. A reason that ignited firecrackers at Galle Face Green. A reason that made policemen watch the madness of young men waving the Sri Lankan flag, disrupting commuters. A reason that led people to dance with complete strangers, stopping their cars in the middle of the Galle road and joining insane dancing groves “crossing the galle road” for unknown reasons. A reason for a tiny nation to stand on their feet by nervously watching Thisara Perera step down the pitch to a delivery outside off stump. A reason to believe in a fairy tale ending to the careers of two pillarstone gentlemen in Sri Lanka cricket Sangakkara and Mahela.
“A reason to believe in a fairy tale ending to the careers of two pillarstone gentlemen in Sri Lanka cricket Sangakkara and Mahela. A reason for those same old men to drink again and start dancing with tipsy young men to papare music ( A unique Sri Lankan music tradition, said to have roots in the Tamil Hindu genre of Kawadi, this band is most often heard playing at cricket grounds ) grooves at Galle Face Green. It all came down to one reason on that Sunday, winning the T20 world cup Sunday April 6,2014’
I was at Galle face green. The crowd watching the T20 World Cup final on the giant screen at Galle Face Green fell into a split-second silence as Thisara Perera came down the track. People held their breath, waiting until the ball sailed over the long-on boundary. It was a moment of silence before a hurricane roar erupted, kicking off the celebration. From that moment, roaring fans, dancing youth, and waving flags took over the streets of Colombo, creating traffic chaos. At home, people gathered around their televisions, cheering even louder as they watched the Sri Lankan players sprint to the middle of Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Bangladesh, to embrace the two warriors, Kumar Sangakkara and Thisara Perera, with tears in their eyes.
Thisara Perera hopping down the track and punching the winning runs against R Ashvin
In Sri Lanka, cricket is a source of happiness and pride. It has been 18 years since Sri Lanka pulled off a miraculous win over the hot-favourite Australians in 1996, playing as underdogs. From that day, Sri Lankan cricket transformed from being minnows to a formidable cricketing unit. However, despite consistently reaching finals, we struggled to secure the championship title.
That Sunday’s celebration marked the end of a long 18-year wait since 1996. Four final defeats. Countless practice sessions. Infinite bottles of Mendis Special, filled with discussions, debates on strategies, and comparisons of averages across the country and men’s arguments while wives and girlfriends hate hearing discussions about cricket.
Soon, people began celebrating just like the day the ruthless war ended. A country blessed with a wealth of untapped talent and an uncanny ability to squander has finally found a genuine reason to cheer. A game played and celebrated everywhere—from paddy fields to apartment complexes—became a personal milestone, like liquid sunshine that sparked our blood and brought us together to embrace the true meaning of unity and teamwork.
Grand welcome in Colombo, Sri Lanka
The feeling of being a champion is the ultimate triumph sports fans can experience. Sports have the power to break down barriers of colour, ethnicity, culture, and religion, transcending them to reveal the true meaning of love and the boundless human spirit.
Cricket may not feed our hungry children or end corruption in Sri Lanka, but it can heal the wounded hearts of 20 million Sri Lankans worldwide, scarred by terrorism, tsunamis, religion, and racial divides, uniting us as one nation.
That Sunday will forever be remembered as the night we celebrated like champions.
By Buddi Matharachchi – Auckland
