World reacts to Sri Lanka’s stunning Asia Cup triumph

DUBAI: Dasun Shanaka-led Sri Lanka showed tremendous character to stun Pakistan in the final of the Asia Cup 2022 on September 11, defeating their star-studded opponents by 23 runs. Sri Lankan fans in the Dubai International Cricket Stadium burst into jubilant celebrations following their team’s surprise win. The Asia Cup triumph came hours after the island’s netball team won the Asian Netball Championships for the sixth time in Singapore.

The cricketers received a heroes’ welcome on returning home early Tuesday, 13 September with the government organising a victory parade for the cricketers, starting from the Bandaranaike International Airport and all the way to the city centre in Colombo.

 

It didn’t take long for the Sri Lanka players to celebrate the victory inside their dressing room.

A host of former Sri Lanka players led the way by sending their congratulations to the current team, while a group of former Pakistan stars and a high profile ex-coach also sent their well wishes to the Sri Lanka players.

 

However, the celebrations of Afghanistan fans also grabbed the headlines following Pakistan’s defeat. Afghanistan’s ambassador to Sri Lanka, M Ashraf Haidari, shared a delightful video of the euphoric celebrations of Afghan fans in the streets of Khost. After the match got over, Ambassador Haidari tweeted the joyous video and wrote, “Afghans across the world celebrate the well-deserved Asia Cup Cricket Championship victory by the great team of Sri Lanka. This is just one scene in Khost.”

The odds were heavily in favour of Pakistan when their skipper Babar Azam won the toss and opted to field. Teams batting first have generally ended up on the losing side. Therefore, many fans felt that it would be very difficult for Sri Lanka to put up a decent total on the board and then defend it. At one point in time, Sri Lanka was reeling at 58/5 in the 9th over. However, Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Wanindu Hasaranga stitched together a crucial partnership to bring Sri Lanka back into the game. Punjab Kings’ Bhanuka Rajapaksa played a stellar knock of 71 runs off just 45 balls to propel Sri Lanka’s total to 170 runs.

It was a fairytale ending for Sri Lanka at the 2022 Asia Cup, who were crowned champions for the sixth time in the tournament’s history.

Their tournament campaign got off to the worst possible start where they were bowled out for 105 against Afghanistan and saw the score chased down in 10.1 overs. The Islanders were almost knocked out of the tournament in the group stage before they snatched victories from the jaws of defeat against Bangladesh.

From there on, they were an unstoppable force and more importantly, a solid well-gelled unit. They beat India and Afghanistan in the Super Four stage before defeating Pakistan two games in a row, including the final.

The timing of the triumph couldn’t have come at a better time for Sri Lanka – not just the team heading into the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup but also the nation and the fans who have been going through a tough time back home.

As Sri Lanka burst into spontaneous celebrations after winning the Asia Cup in the shortest form of cricket in Dubai, Skipper Dasun Shanaka called Sunday’s Asia Cup triumph a “real turnaround” for Sri Lankan cricket ahead of the T20 World Cup, and dedicated the win to the crisis-hit nation.

Firecrackers burst, cars honked and fans danced at Galle Face promenade in the capital, where the tournament was televised live on a giant screen.

“This is a super surprise,” Mohamed Thimal, 24, who watched the game at Galle Face, told AFP news agency. “We didn’t expect a win because we have not won a tournament recently.”

“Very happy, very happy,” shouted Jameel Irshad, who was celebrating with friends at Galle Face, which until July was the launch pad for toppling President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over economic mismanagement as the island faced its worst economic crisis in decades.

The country is enduring hyperinflation, and lengthy power blackouts and is facing acute shortages of food, fuel and medicines after running out of foreign exchange to pay for imports since late last year.

Rajapaksa’s successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, was among the first to congratulate the national team.

Government employee Prathana Weerasinghe noted that Sunday’s cricket win came hours after Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup in women’s netball at a tournament in Singapore.

“A very, very proud day! Girls did earlier today and now boys. Wow, What else? Happiest day in years,” Weerasinghe told AFP.

Hemalatha Tillakaratne, 72, said she feared the government could institute price hikes as the country savoured the rare sporting victories.

“Today they didn’t impose the power cut because of the match, but they will start the blackouts again from tomorrow. They could also use this win to increase prices from tomorrow,” Tillakaratne said.

Another fan, Krishani Athauda, 42, said the victory was so much sweeter because of the $200,000 prize money at a time when Sri Lanka is scrounging for foreign exchange to pay for essentials.”We are happy that we won the (cricket) Asia Cup despite the economic crisis,” Athauda said.

“At a time when people are suffering, this is a relief.”

A stream of messages from the cricket world in other countries poured on social media to congratulate the Sri Lankan team on its victory:

(ICC News/Agencies/Twitter)

WATCH: ALL PRAISE FOR SRI LANKA FROM TOP CRICKET EXPERT HARSHA BHOGLE

 

 

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