Sports

What Australia and England can learn from Indian airports

Published

3 years ago

2023/10/10

Rex Clementine
in Hyderabad

India’s airports in the last ten years have improved so much. They are top class. Delhi, Bombay, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Trivandrum and many other international and even smaller domestic airports have come a long way.

Delhi for example immigration and customs will take you less than 15 minutes to clear. Yes, 15 minutes. Our neighbours have become so efficient. Australia and England have much to learn from India. You spend easily an hour or even more at Heathrow, Manchester, Melbourne, Sydney or Adelaide to clear the formalities. Therefore, don’t judge India by Madras. The south Indian city of course is still in 1970s; grumpy immigration, lousy duty free, unclean toilets and total chaos.

Bangalore can be ranked world’s best airport and across the Kaveri river Madras can be categorized as the world’s worst airport.

Of course, Delhi is of immense importance both politically and for cricketing reasons.

Some of Sri Lanka’s best moments on the cricket field have come in the Indian capital like the first ever ODI hundred by a Sri Lankan when Roy Dias achieved the milestone in 1982. The old timers are still obsessed with Roy’s class and style.

A frequent question that is asked when you travel to India is how come we keep producing such elegant batters. Be it Anura Tennakoon, Roy Dias, Aravinda de Silva, Marvan Atapattu or Mahela Jayawardene, we have them in plenty. Not bad for a tiny island. You keep telling them that it is the quality of the coaches in the country. Which is why Aravinda harps on that we need to invest a lot on coaching because they eventually produce our match winners.

Delhi pops up some interesting topics too. It seems when Sri Lanka declared on 952 for six at RPS instead of going for the magical figure of 1000 runs in 1997, India’s coach Ajit Wadekar had appealed not to go for that milestone and declare instead. Sri Lanka apparently didn’t want to antagonize the big brother. The claim needs to be verified though. Soon after the World Cup, good chunk of time will be dedicated speaking to our heroes of 1990s to find out whether there was any message asking not to achieve the milestone of 1000. Or else, did Sri Lanka put India out of the misery on their own.

Talking of Delhi, this was also the venue where Sanath Jayasuriya ended local boy Manjor Prabhakar’s international career following the hammering in the World Cup fixture.

Apparently after the Jayasuriya mauling for the next game between the countries – the World Cup semi-final, India ended up spending the whole team meeting setting plans and traps for Jayasuriya. It worked. Both him and his partner in crime Rumesh Kaluwitharana fell in the first over. India had blundered by not preparing for a certain P.A. de Silva. The rest is history as the maestro came up with a stunning innings to knock India out of the World Cup.

Next stop is Hyderabad, the capital city of Indian state of Telangana. It is also known as the city of pearls.

When India gained independence in 1947, the Nizam of Hyderabad decided to remain independent not wanting to join the Indian union. However, a year later, after government intervention, Hyderabad also became part of India

The city famous for its biryanis has produced some of India’s finest cricketing talents, particularly some of their finest captains.

M.L. Jaisimha, Tiger Pataudi and Mohammad Azharuddin are all from Hyderabad and so is VVS Laxman, one of greats of Indian cricket.

Azhar heads the Hyderabad Cricket Association and could one day go onto become the President of the Indian Cricket Board.

The traffic in Hyderabad can be a killer and that is why most people use the metro service, which is quick, clean and efficient. It’s a pity that Sri Lanka said no to a metro in the capital city on flimsy grounds a few years ago.

An efficient light rail service will certainly ease out the traffic in the city and the sooner Sri Lanka finish it the better it is.

The Pakistan team has been in Hyderabad for the last two weeks and there’s tight security around the team. The relations between the nuclear armed neighbours have remained tensed since the terror attack in Bombay in 2009 and bilateral cricket series between the countries have ceased. The only time they play sports against each other is at ICC or ACC events.

There is lot of criticism that visas for Pakistani fans have been delayed by the Indian government. It is easy to run down the Indian government but if you properly analyze things you’ll find out that 14 Pakistani fans landed in Hyderabad prior to the tournament and authorities are struggling to trace their whereabouts.

All News Advertisement

Sports

India to host inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy in February

Published

1 hour ago

2026/09/3

Priyan

The Brabourne Stadium hasn't hosted an international game since December 2022 [BCCI]

The inaugural six-team Women’s Champions Trophy has been moved from Sri Lanka to India, and will be played in Mumbai and Vadodara from February 14 to 28 next year.

The Brabourne Stadium and the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium will host the T20 tournament. Despite losing the hosting rights because of government interference in their cricket board, Sri Lanka will still be part of the tournament, having qualified after being in the top six of the T20I rankings on the July 6 qualification cut-off date. Australia, England, India, New Zealand and South Africa are the other teams.

According to a media release, the ICC assessed three candidates – Bangladesh, India and South Africa – against its established host evaluation criteria before recommending India as the replacement host on Wednesday.

The Brabourne Stadium hasn’t hosted an international game since December 2022, when India women hosted Australia for a T20I series. It hosted the first-ever season of the WPL in 2023 and also a few matches in 2025. Vadodara, meanwhile, has hosted WPL matches in 2025 and 2026.

The Champions Trophy was due to be Sri Lanka’s second ICC event in two years after they also co-hosted the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup with India. The six participating teams will compete in a round-robin league, with the top two sides advancing to the final on February 28.

The SLC is under interim administration, called the Transformation Committee, which was put in place by the Sri Lankan government and will oversee major board changes including those to its constitution. The ICC does not recognise politically appointed administrations and SLC representatives have not been at ICC board meetings since the Transformation Committee was put in place.

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Mendis, Nissanka return for England white ball series

Published

11 hours ago

2026/09/3

Sahan Weerasooriya

Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka return to the side after missing India Tests due to injuries.

by Rex Clementine

Prolific batsman Pathum Nissanka and white-ball captain Kusal Mendis are back in the fold after being named in Sri Lanka’s ODI and T20 squads for the six-match tour of England later this month.

Both Mendis and Nissanka missed the recent Test series against India through injury. Nissanka was recovering from wrist surgery, while Mendis suffered a hamstring injury during the LPL. It was the first major injury setback for the wicketkeeper batter, who has been a fixture in the Sri Lankan side for more than a decade.

Interestingly, Charith Asalanka has returned to the leadership group as vice-captain. Asalanka was stripped of the captaincy in both white ball formats earlier this year and subsequently fell out of favour with the selectors. His elevation suggests that the experiment of grooming Kamindu Mendis as the all-format vice-captain has, for the moment at least, been shelved.

There are, however, a few concerns heading into the tour. Kusal Mendis and Dushmantha Chameera have not featured in the ongoing domestic tournament, leaving them short of competitive cricket. Chameera’s lack of preparation will be particularly concerning given the fast bowler’s lengthy history of injuries. Pathum Nissanka did turn up for NCC though during this week’s T-20 competition but didn’t make an impact.

The inclusion of 28-year-old leg-spinner Sachindu Colombage in the ODI squad has also raised a few eyebrows.

While Sri Lanka’s T20 game remains a work in progress, their ODI fortunes have taken a significant turn for the better. The side has found consistency and made rapid strides, underlined by automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup in South Africa. It is a marked contrast to the build-up to the 2023 edition, when Sri Lanka were forced to travel to Zimbabwe and negotiate the qualifying tournament to earn their place at the World Cup.

Sri Lanka will begin the tour with the T20 series, with Southampton hosting the opener on September 15. The teams then travel to Cardiff and Manchester before the ODI leg gets underway at Chester-le-Street. Headingley will stage the second ODI, with the tour concluding at The Oval.

The Sri Lankan squad will leave for London on Saturday, September 5, giving them ten days to prepare for the six-match white-ball assignment.

ODI squad: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka (vice-captain), Kusal Mendis (captain), Janith Liyanage, Pavan Rathnayake, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Sachindu Colombage, Dushmantha Chameera, Eshan Malinga, Asitha Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka.

T20 squad: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Lahiru Udara, Kusal Mendis (captain), Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka (vice-captain), Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Tharindu Rathnayake, Dushmantha Chameera, Eshan Malinga, Nuwan Thushara and Binura Fernando.

Sports

Sampath, bowlers steer Golden Green Plantations to title

Published

11 hours ago

2026/09/3

Sahan Weerasooriya

MCA Premier League Champions 2026 Golden Green Plantations

MCA – ABANS PREMIER LEAGUE 2026

A skipper’s innings of 70 runs off 89 balls by T M Sampath and a four fer by Hesham Madushanaka and two wickets by Upul Hettiarachchi helped new comers to the MCA cricket arena Golden Green Plantations defeat David Pieris Group of Companies by four wickets in the final of the MCA-Abans Premier League 2026 and become the first winners of the ‘Abans Challenge Trophy’.

Electing to bat first David Pieris Group of Companies were restricted to 147 runs in 39.3 overs. Santhush Gunathilake who opened innings topped the score card with a fluent 53 off 50 balls with seven fours and a six. Asitha Wanninayake chipped in with 31 off 59 balls. Heshan Madushanka captured four wickets for 11 runs.

Chasing 148 to win, skipper T M Sampath scored 70 runs off 89 balls with seven boundaries and two sixes before being stumped off the bowling of Dilanka Auwardt, with score on 122/5. Shammu Ashan and Mohamed Shamaz shared a 25 run partnership to equal the scores at 147/6 and Shammu Ashan scored the winning runs with a four.

The Golden Green Plantation Team led by T M Samapth comprised, Heshn Madushanka, Malith Mihiranga, Mohamed Shamaz, Randika Mihiranga, Upul Httiarachchi, Dhanuja Induwara, Gimadu Malkam, Sammu Ashan , Vikum Sanjaya and Johan Pathirana

With only four teams entering the prestigious MCA Premier Leaguethis year, DFCC Bank secured third spot having a slightly better run rate over Nawaloka Hospitals and were unlucky that the opportunity for securing a spot in the final was washed away as qualifier 2 was abandoned on two consuecutive days due to rain.

Player of the Final T M Sampath of Golden Green Plantations receives his trophy from Sajith Athapaththu Chairman of the MCA Social, Bar and Restaurant Committee

Special Awards:

Best fielder of the Final :

Dhanuja Induwara of Golden Green Plantations [3 catches and 1 runout]

Best bowler of the Final:

Heshan Madushanka of Golden Green Plantations [4 wickets for 11 runs]

Best batsman of the Final:

Santhush Gunathilake of David Pieris Group of Companies [53 runs off 50 balls]

Player of the Final ;

T M Sampath of Golden Green Plantations [70 runs and 1 wicket]

Best bowler of the Tournament:

Tharinda Nirmal of David Pieris Group of Companies [13 wickets in 4 innings]

Best batsman of the Tournament: