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Colombo shuts down to watch finals
People were either stuck to their TV sets or were at Premadasa Stadium watching the India-Sri Lanka triangular series final.
Despite Tuesday being a working day Colombo the capital of Sri Lanka seemed to have got caught somewhere in time as everything came to a halt. Whole of Colombo was shut down with people either being stuck to their television sets or were at the R Premadasa Stadium watching the India-Sri Lanka triangular series final.
And hundreds of Indians - both living in Sri Lanka and tourists, some of them friends of Harbhajan Singh and Ahish Nehra - had flown down to Colombo to mix cricket with a holiday. The game's massive appeal ensured that for the first time in the seven-match tournament there was a full house at the stadium.
Indian fans, some who had come on their own and others facilitated by Indian companies like title sponsor Indian Oil, flocked in the stadium and mingled with the friendly local enthusiasts who were equipped with all kinds of musical instruments. Even the chief cook at the teams' hotel, Taj Samudra, took a day off and watched the match from a vantage point at the stadium. "I am busy tomorrow," sous chef Pawan Singh Rana told IANS on Monday night at the hotel.
"I am going to watch the final, thanks to these people," he said pointing to Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Jai Prakash Yadav, who were having dinner at the Indian restaurant in the five-star Hotel Navratna.
Sri Lankans filled almost the entire popular galleries, whose tickets were priced at Rs 50, while the Indians mostly opted for the better seats. In one section of the stands, to the right of the Indian dressing room, some cheerleaders were seen waving, as the Indian flag fluttered proudly.
The Sri Lankan fans seemingly did not necessarily support their national team. At least one three-wheeler driver, Mohammed Khan, backed India against his home country in the final. "I am supporting India today," Khan said. "I am a fan of Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan." Asked which team he would have supported had the West Indies met Sri Lanka in the finals, the youngsters said without a pause: "Sri Lanka".
The final was, ironically, played on a day when the three-wheeler drivers had called a shutdown against exorbitant penalties levied by police against those who jump red lights and take wrong turns. But there seemed to be no effect of the strike on the public as, like Khan, hundreds of three-wheelers were seen plying on Colombo's roads.
