Galle, scene of destruction and Test between India and Lanka
India plays Sri Lanka in the first Test match at Galle from this Sunday. And when the two teams walk out of the pavilion at the Sri Lankan stadium, they'll be walking on ground that has a rich history, some of which has nothing to do with cricket.
There are some grounds in the history of the game that will always go down as the legends. Lord’s is one of them, for it is seeped in tradition and culture, so much so, that it is a wonder that it has not yet been nominated for being one of the sporting wonders of the world.
So is the Melbourne Cricket Ground, or the MCG as it is popularly known as. This is said to be one of the largest cricket grounds in the world with an official seating capacity of 100,000. One uses the word, ‘official’, because another stadium, the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India may not be officially that huge, but unofficially, it is often said that when full for an exciting international game, there are more than 100,000 spectators. It is also called the cauldron of international cricket, and no player’s education is complete without playing in this ground.
Galle: torn apart and rebuilt
However, Galle is a cricket ground that will be talked about by those who had seen the kind of change it went through thanks to one of the biggest natural calamities of modern times. On Boxing Day of 2004, the ‘Tsunami’ that killed 230,000 people across Asia, managed to smash the stadium to smithereens.
Almost all the buildings within the stadium were damaged beyond recognition, and the ground was damaged substantially. With the number of people rendered homeless because of the tsunami, the stadium became a refuge area for hundreds of people displaced from the tsunami. A camp was set up and a helipad made in that area, in order to help those people in the stadium. A glorious stadium where the spectators had earlier watched exciting games and shouted out in joy and ecstasy had been turned into a depressing site.
Galle bounces back quickly
Not too many thought that Galle would recover from this as soon as it did. Almost three years after the tsunami had destroyed the stadium completely, not only was it fully reconstructed but also fit enough for a five-day international between the hosts Sri Lanka and England. Fittingly, the rains and inclement weather meant that the hosts were robbed of a sure-shot win, but the fact that a game was even played on that ground was a vindication of the effort that had gone in its reconstruction.
India's history at Galle
The ground holds fond memories for India as well. The last time http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 were in Sri Lanka to play in a three Test match series, they had been badly beaten in the first Test match, before getting to Galle for the second match.
In a stunning display of batting, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 had then collapsed to 136 all out to ensure that the Indians had levelled the series 1-1.
Life hadn’t been that kind to India in the first Test match that they had played on this ground way back in 2001. The visitors had been bowled out for 187 after being 79/0 at one stage, and collapsed to 180 all out in the second innings to hand Sri Lanka over a ten-wicket win.
So, it is 1-1 for the two sides who will walk out of that Galle pavilion on Sunday; who will take the advantage come the next Thursday? If past years have taught us, it's that anything can happen at Galle.
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