A casual scan of social media on Sunday after Sri Lanka defeated India to win the Twenty20 World Cup revealed an interesting fact: The Sri Lankan cricket players almost have any no enemies.
Now, “enemy” is a very strong word to use for a sports team, but it is no secret that the Internet has spawned armies of hatemongers – or trolls in Facebook lingo – who like to gatecrash joyous occasions with venom-laced posts, usually motivated by history and politics but often also without any rhyme or reason.
Instead, there was near unanimity about why the Sri Lankans deserved to win the World Cup because they have been hard done by in four limited overs finals before, and also complete acknowledgement of the greatness of Kumara Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene who had announced their retirement from international T20 matches before the tournament in Bangladesh began.
Sangakkara and Jayawardene, devastating as they have proved for rival teams over the past decade and half, have also managed to capture the imagination of fans all over the world with their humility and grace. Hardly ever have they been portrayed in a negative light by the Sri Lankan or foreign media and neither have they provided any opportunity for anyone to do so. As far as the “gentlemanly” game of cricket is concerned, they have lived up to the term as effortlessly as they would often dispatch the cricket ball to the boundary.
Indeed, most people reacting to the Sri Lankans’ victory – and they include many Indians – were effusive in their praise of the duo. While there was a lot of vitriol reserved for the way Yuvraj Singh batted, most Indians were in agreement that Sri Lanka deserved to win the Cup this time.
The Sri Lankans have come a long way ever since they made their One Day International (ODI) debut at the 1975 World Cup and were granted Test status in 1981. But even when they were starting out, they were no pushovers and produced legends like Roy Dias, Sidath Wettimuny, Duleep Mendis, Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga among others.
De Silva and Ranatunga went on to enjoy long careers and figured in their ODI World Cup winning team in 1996, and although they left a void after their retirements, the emergence of players such as Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Mutthiah Muralitharan ensured the team more than held their own at the international level.
Jayawardene was captain when Sri Lanka lost the 50-over World Cup final to Australia in the Caribbean in 2007, and again when the West Indies won the 2012 World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.
Sangakkara was at the helm during the 2009 World T20 final in England when Sri Lanka lost to Pakistan, and the World Cup in 2011 when M S Dhoni’s Indians won the title at home in Mumbai.
In that sense, there was an air of expectation in Mirpur on Sunday. And when cricket delivered its verdict, it was the Sri Lankans who were celebrating. The entire cricketing world, too, was happy for them.