தமிழ்
සිංහල
Written by Lahiru Fernando
There is a cricket fan in every Sri Lankan, no matter how much some say they are not.
Cricket is in our blood, it is our unofficial national sport. To some, it’s even equal to religion.
There are no words to explain the passion for the game in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka cricket was at one point the brand that took Sri Lanka out into the world.
Win or lose, fans in and out of Sri Lanka has always stood by our team.
Whenever Sri Lanka won a game, there were celebrations all around.
No matter how much of a bad day anyone had at work, at home, or anywhere for that matter -none of that mattered because we just won a match!
Whenever the team lost a game, the country goes silent for a moment. 20 million hearts stop beating for a moment. A nation -left in a state of shock, trying to comprehend what just happened.
The best day in someone’s life would seem dull -just because Sri Lanka lost a match.
But no matter how devastated the country is, no matter how shattered our hearts were, no Sri Lankan ever turned their back against our team.
The team is our pride & joy, our heart and soul.
This passion and undying love for our team was well evident in 2011.
Sri Lanka lost the World Cup Final to India, in India. But the team was welcomed back to the island with open arms by crowds flocked on the roads.
Our boys were greeted with love and cheer.
Such is our passion, such is our never ending support.
It would take a lot, and then some, to damage that deep rooted love Sri Lankans have for the sport and our boys.
Has that day dawned? -we hope not. But the situation now is bad, to say the least.
Today (October 23) the Sri Lankan team were whitewashed for a second consecutive time.
We lost the ODI series against Pakistan 5-0, having been whitewashed by India before that.
Sri Lanka has played 26 matches so far in 2017.
The match we lost today against Pakistan is our 12th consecutive ODI defeat.
This is a team which continuously won match after match, reached final after final in World Cups of both ODi and T20i.
These are stats of a team that came out victorious as World Champions in both ODi and T20i in the past.
That team, sadly, has now fallen to a state of being whitewashed on home-soil.
Why…?
How…?
Those are questions which are haunting the Sri Lankan fans far and wide….
We at News 1st decided it is time we highlighted some key issues which are contributing to the current state of Sri Lanka Cricket.
Selections committees changed, its chairpersons resigned, team captains were changed around 6 or 7 times in recent memory, coaches left the country, other coaches objected against traveling to certain countries.
While all of these took place, there has been one constant;
Thilanga Sumathipala
The current chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket and it’s executive committee.
Let us make it clear – we are not laying any blame on the players.
Dear Mr. Thilanga Sumathipala, we have no personal qualms against you.
However the general public, like you, share a deep love and passion for Sri Lanka Cricket.
So please take family politics away from cricket, let professionals handle the sport.
Read More: Thilanga Sumathipala responded to this message by News 1st
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