Editorial - The Island
In Mumbai on Saturday, we saw good cricket. The World Cup final 2011 ended with India emerging victorious and Sri Lanka becoming runners-up. However, the overall winner, in our opinion, was cricket. Sri Lankan cricket lovers who wanted the much coveted cup brought home like in 1996 were disappointed but consolation came in the form of a good fight put up by Sanga and his boys, who, as Ravi Shastri said at Saturday's award ceremony, gave the Indians a run for their money.
In discussing what sports really aim at, one has to go beyond the objectives encapsulated in the classical Olympic motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius or Higher, Faster and Stronger. Sports also train a person in team work and psychologically condition him or her to take victory and defeat with equanimity. The greatness of a sportsperson should be judged not by the way he or she achieves victory but by the manner in which he or she concedes defeat following a gruelling contest. On Saturday, Sri Lankan Skipper Kumar Sangakkara proved to the world yet another time his as well as his team mates' sportsmanship. He graciously accepted defeat and earned the respect and admiration of millions of cricket fans the world over.
With the benefit of hindsight, one may now see the lapses on the part of the Sri Lankan team, which led to its defeat, and wonder why on earth Sanga and his players could not avoid them to beat India. True, there were some instances of bad fielding and erroneous judgment. But, to be out there in the field making decisions and doing things on the spur of the moment is a completely different ball game. It is easy to be wise after the event! What needs to be done now is for Sri Lanka to learn from their mistakes and prepare themselves for future matches.
Read moreCricket has lost two of its precious jewels with the retirement of Sri Lanka's Spin Wizard Murali and India's Little Master, Tendulkar. The loss of these two legends will be felt for a long time to come. But, all good things must come to an end. The challenge before Sri Lankan and Indian cricketers will be to fill the vacuum left by the two great players.
The Sri Lankan cricket administrators must not be allowed to take cover behind the World Cup runners-up and get away with their malpractices which have caused ‘Sri Lanka Cricket’ to stink to high heaven. This institution is rotten to the core, to say the least and it is a miracle that Sanga and his boys made it to the World Cup final notwithstanding the sordid operations by the cricket mandarins. That feat is, in our book, as good as winning the ICC World Cup!
There have been numerous allegations against Sri Lanka Cricket and a former Sports Minister C. B. Ratnayake, it may be recalled, told the media last May that it was the third most corrupt institution in the country. Now that the World Cup tournament is over, the government ought to have the Sri Lanka Cricket probed.
The World Cup cricket has triggered a resurgence of patriotism. Even those who had gone all out to demoralise the national military by ridiculing its achievements and vilifying its commanders while it was waging a difficult war in an extremely hostile terrain amidst stiff resistance from a formidable enemy from 2006 to 2009, were seen wrapping themselves in the flag. It is hoped that all of them will be equally patriotic at their work places as well and do their utmost to help develop the country.
Finally, we think the man of the series award went to the wrong 'raj'. Instead of Yuvraj, it should have been given to Mahinda Raj (read Rajapaksa) for his brilliant hat trick on Friday. He jacked up the prices of Petrol, Diesel and Gas!
Cheers!
