Popular unrest has been a common part of Sri Lanka’s history ever since its creation in 1948. In 1983, longstanding tensions between the country’s two largest ethnic groups, the Sinhalese and Tamils, erupted into a full-scale civil war, ending only in 2009, 25 years and tens of thousands of deaths later.
More recently, the global coronavirus pandemic disrupted life around the country, and an economic crisis led to protests and the deposition of the president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose residence was stormed by protesters in July.
Throughout all the crises Sri Lanka has weathered, cricket has remained a key cornerstone of life in the country, even as some have questioned the wisdom of using precious resources to power floodlights at stadiums while electricity remains scarce in much of the country.
Estelle Vasudevan, a sports journalist for the news site ThePapare.com, says that cricket serves as an escape from the daily hardships facing Sri Lanka. “What was noticeable was that, even when Sri Lanka was losing, people were partying in the stands in a way they usually do not,” she added.
During some recent anti-government protests, demonstrators exchanged the latest scores and talked about the sport. When protesters broke into the president’s residence, some even stopped to watch cricket on his television.
Cricket, which was introduced by British colonists, has garnered a huge following in South Asia due to it being one of the few sports the region excels at globally.
“When I say sport, it’s almost always cricket,” said Abhishek Mukherjee, who lives in the Indian city of Kolkata and writes about the sport.
“Even when something goes really wrong, they will always try to find joy and happiness in sport,” he added.
Professional cricket matches have gone through even during the decades-long civil war and after Sri Lanka’s team was ambushed on its way to a match in Pakistan in 2009.
Aadhil Siddhique, a 24-year-old computer science student and antigovernment protester, sees the country’s professional cricketers as “brand ambassadors during this time of hardship” acting as a symbol of their cause, which aims to overthrow the powerful Rajapaksa family, which has dominated politics in the country for many years. Some prominent players have attended protests, including both of the current captains of the men’s team and Kumar Sangakkara, a former Hall-of-Famer.
The country’s team has rebounded from its losses last year, scoring a string of victories, including against Bangladesh and Australia. The latter is the world’s top-ranked squad in test, one of the three formats of cricket.
Many Sri Lankans hope they can beat India, a “powerhouse rival,” at the Asian Cup this year, which is set to be held in their homeland. “For sure, trust me, that will be a huge, huge inspiration,” said Mr. Siddhique.
Despite this, the unrest in Sri Lanka has caused some uncertainty about whether the cup will still be held in the country. Ms. Vasudevan, the sports journalist, put the chance that the cup will not be held in Sri Lanka at 90 percent. “Hosting nine teams is not possible even if they wanted to,” she said.
Already, the unrest is having an effect on the sport. The men’s national team’s upcoming matches against Pakistan have been moved from Colombo to Galle in light of the unrest there. In addition, the Lanka Premier League, a set of matches between local teams which were supposed to happen in August, were postponed indefinitely, in another sign of the worsening situation in Sri Lanka.
Cricket’s future as a unifying force for Sri Lankans may be in peril, but for a country which continued playing through a civil war, nothing is impossible.
Original article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/23/world/asia/sri-lanka-cricket-t20.html
More recently, the global coronavirus pandemic disrupted life around the country, and an economic crisis led to protests and the deposition of the president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose residence was stormed by protesters in July.
Throughout all the crises Sri Lanka has weathered, cricket has remained a key cornerstone of life in the country, even as some have questioned the wisdom of using precious resources to power floodlights at stadiums while electricity remains scarce in much of the country.
Estelle Vasudevan, a sports journalist for the news site ThePapare.com, says that cricket serves as an escape from the daily hardships facing Sri Lanka. “What was noticeable was that, even when Sri Lanka was losing, people were partying in the stands in a way they usually do not,” she added.
During some recent anti-government protests, demonstrators exchanged the latest scores and talked about the sport. When protesters broke into the president’s residence, some even stopped to watch cricket on his television.
Cricket, which was introduced by British colonists, has garnered a huge following in South Asia due to it being one of the few sports the region excels at globally.
“When I say sport, it’s almost always cricket,” said Abhishek Mukherjee, who lives in the Indian city of Kolkata and writes about the sport.
“Even when something goes really wrong, they will always try to find joy and happiness in sport,” he added.
Professional cricket matches have gone through even during the decades-long civil war and after Sri Lanka’s team was ambushed on its way to a match in Pakistan in 2009.
Aadhil Siddhique, a 24-year-old computer science student and antigovernment protester, sees the country’s professional cricketers as “brand ambassadors during this time of hardship” acting as a symbol of their cause, which aims to overthrow the powerful Rajapaksa family, which has dominated politics in the country for many years. Some prominent players have attended protests, including both of the current captains of the men’s team and Kumar Sangakkara, a former Hall-of-Famer.
The country’s team has rebounded from its losses last year, scoring a string of victories, including against Bangladesh and Australia. The latter is the world’s top-ranked squad in test, one of the three formats of cricket.
Many Sri Lankans hope they can beat India, a “powerhouse rival,” at the Asian Cup this year, which is set to be held in their homeland. “For sure, trust me, that will be a huge, huge inspiration,” said Mr. Siddhique.
Despite this, the unrest in Sri Lanka has caused some uncertainty about whether the cup will still be held in the country. Ms. Vasudevan, the sports journalist, put the chance that the cup will not be held in Sri Lanka at 90 percent. “Hosting nine teams is not possible even if they wanted to,” she said.
Already, the unrest is having an effect on the sport. The men’s national team’s upcoming matches against Pakistan have been moved from Colombo to Galle in light of the unrest there. In addition, the Lanka Premier League, a set of matches between local teams which were supposed to happen in August, were postponed indefinitely, in another sign of the worsening situation in Sri Lanka.
Cricket’s future as a unifying force for Sri Lankans may be in peril, but for a country which continued playing through a civil war, nothing is impossible.
Original article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/23/world/asia/sri-lanka-cricket-t20.html
