President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday evening held a reception for the World Cup runners up Sri Lankan cricket team who had returned to a fairly warm welcome to Colombo on Sunday. At the reception, Rajapaksa presented mementos to the team and appreciated their effort in reaching the second consecutive final. He said like in every sport, there had to be one winner on Saturday but the defeat in no way reduced the cricket team’s effort through the long tournament.

Spinner M Muralitharan, who played his last one day international in Mumbai on Saturday, was given a special memento as a mark of his contribution to the country’s cricket.