http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World T20 - All smiles this time around for Sri Lanka (Part 1) – Opinion
There was a time when playing cricket in the city of Colombo, or travelling up to the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Timothy-Michael-Lamb-c94061 Eelam (LTTE) was known facts that lead to shudders down the touring team’s
spine. The LTTE went on a nationwide rampage to try and ensure that the rights of the ethnic Tamils were safeguarded. Their ambition to safeguard the ideology of ‘Tamil Nationalism’ came in the form of sporadic bomb attacks and violence, which was followed
by a series of retaliatory attacks by the government which resulted in massive loss of life and bloodshed. These events had clouded Sri Lanka’s warmth, hospitality and prospects for accommodating touring sides. There were numerous instances where teams had
pulled out, citing security reasons and refrained from even travelling to Sri Lanka, let alone, play cricket there.
Much to the delight and relief of many however, such security concerns have become a thing of the past. With the arrival of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in 2005, an audacious campaign to dismantle the LTTE in their strong holds reaped numerous rewards
for the nation, and the LTTE was officially disbanded in 2009, following the death of their leader Velupillai http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Prabhakaran-c82405. That victory helped Sri Lanka’s economy gallop at a rate of knots, and provide innumerable amount of opportunities for development, attracting
foreign investment and boosting tourism prospects. One of the success stories since the terrorist organization was disbanded however has been the promotion of cricket to the world.
For decades, the team’s amazing performances on the field has tempted various oppositions to head towards the island, and experience life in a cricket mad nation. Sadly, due to security threats and the clout of the LTTE, many had declined to even partake
in a bilateral encounter with the home side, let alone play in a tournament. Possibly the worst situation that this richly endowed Island had to bear was during the Wills Cricket World Cup of 1996, which was jointly hosted by Sri Lanka, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760, which had declined
to play them in Colombo, citing security reasons. These decisions had deprived thousands of passionate supporters of the game, of intriguing contests, which eventually led to empty stadiums and room for disappointment.
The political fallout of boycotting Sri Lankan venues by various oppositions, have at times being bitter. The poor state of relations between the Australian cricket team and the Sri Lankans is in part because of former’s decision to not play against the
South Asians, on their own turf. One can argue that Australia’s reservations were not entirely unrealistic. In 2006, the city of Colombo was rocked after a terrorist attack took place which led to the cancellation of a potentially, enthralling triangular series.
This series was to feature the hosts, South Africa and India, straight after the Test series between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 and Sri Lanka. Such events had continued to plague Sri Lanka’s reputation for being a hospitable country and a romantic place to play cricket
in. Fortunately for many in Sri Lanka and the international community, no country has suspended diplomatic relations with Sri Lanka over security issues, which stands in stark contrast to the situation up north between India and Pakistan, where bilateral series
between both countries had been stalled because of incidents such as the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 Attacks.
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