COLOMBO, 1 October — For India’s “Little Champion” Sachin Tendulkar, the replayed final against Sri Lanka of the ICC Champions Trophy was his career’s 300th One-Day International. After making his debut in 1989 against Pakistan, Tendulkar has come a long way as the best batsman in the world today in both forms of the game. He has already crossed the 11,000-run mark in one-dayers with 33 hundreds. During his career he has won 44 man of the match awards. Only Wasim Akram of Pakistan (343), Muhammad Azharuddin of India (334) and Steve Waugh of Australia (325) have played more matches than Tendulkar. Meanwhile, Aravinda de Silva was given a fond farewell on Sunday, playing his last match at home. On Sunday, he was a far cry from his usual ebullient self but yesterday, Aravinda batted like his old self, smashing five boundaries in Ajit Agarkar’s fifth over. His must be a unique case, having played two farewell matches.
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First neutral Test in Sri Lanka
THE Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club have been granted the honor of hosting the first neutral Test to be played in Sri Lanka at their recently renovated and refurbished P. Sarvanamuttu Stadium. This is the first Test involving Australia and Pakistan, part of their three-Test series and will begin on Thursday, Oct. 3. The remaining two Tests will be played in Sharjah. The Tests are being played at neutral venues after Australia refused to tour Pakistan for security reasons. The Tamil Union have carried out major improvements to their facilities for staging international games. They have a new press box on the third floor of their sports complex and have extended dressing room space above the old team dressing rooms. The Sarvanamuttu Stadium is steeped in history. It was an automatic choice to host international matches in the pre-Test era and hosted Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test match against England in February 1982. And it was again the venue in 1986 when Sri Lanka recorded their historic first Test victory over India.
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Travel plans upset
THE abandonment of the India-Sri Lanka final match of the ICC Champions Trophy on Sunday caused an upset in traveling schedules of several journalists covering the tournament. Most were due to leave yesterday, thinking that the tournament would be over on Sunday. The replay resulted in last-minute cancellations and frantic attempts to get fresh bookings. While some were lucky enough to get seats on flights leaving today, some other were not so fortunate. The exodus of players, officials and spectators means they will not be able to leave soon and will have to spend an additional day or two in Colombo. There is a big contingent of Indian journalists, most of them based in New Delhi or Bombay. They have the option to fly to Madras and then catch another flight to respective cities.
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First disruption by rains
THE abandonment of the India-Sri Lanka final due to heavy rains was the first disruption to the ICC Champions Trophy tournament. There were occasional drizzles but no playing time was lost during the 18 days of the tournament. There is a virtual army of ground staff who are quick to bring on the polythene covers not just to cover the wicket square but also most of the areas at the bowler’s run-up. They are very systematic about it and each member knows exactly what he has to do. When the rains subsided slightly, the mopping up operation was in full swing and ground was being readied. However, the rains returned and washed away all hopes of the match being resumed.
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Dog day at Premadasa Stadium
WITH the Sri Lankan batsmen struggling against the Indian bowlers, runs were difficult to come by and the proceedings had become rather dull at the Premadasa Stadium. However, an unexpected canine intervention in the form of a stray dog enlivened proceedings. Generally ignored by all on the field as it jauntily went around the stadium but did not go to the center as the spectators cheered it on. Umpire Steve Bucknor then asked for help and a ground staff shooed the dog away. To make his exit easier, umpire David Shepherd also showed him the red card and the dog went away the way it had come.
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Crowds keep away
IT was full house on Sunday as over 35,000 spectators crammed every available space at the Premadasa Stadium for the India-Sri Lanka final. It was a totally different story yesterday. While long queues had formed hours before play began on Sunday, there were just a handful of spectators as play began. Previous day’s tickets were valid for the replay but it being a working day, people apparently could not leave their offices to see the match. There were reported to be around 7,000 spectators from India who had flown in just to watch the final. Perhaps they were here for the weekend and left for home. However, the crowd slowly increased but was nowhere near the capacity crowd on Sunday.
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Laptop lost
WHILE I was lucky to be reunited with my DELL notebook after being separated from it for a short time, well known photographer Pradeep Mandhani was not so fortunate. He was in the lobby of the hotel where all the teams were staying, looking for offbeat snaps. He has kept his laptop bag in the lobby. His back was hardly turned for a few minutes, when he looked the bag was missing. It was a Compaq notebook which Mandhani had bought in New Delhi for 175,000 rupees. Nowadays a laptop is essential not just for the reporters but also for the photographers who use the latest technology to transmit their pictures. Mandhani has lodged a police complaint and making efforts individually through local dealers to try and locate the laptop. He has offered a reward of 50,000 to 100,000 rupees if anyone helps him in recovering his notebook.
