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Sri Lanka's 1996 heroes request cricket ground in Jaffna from Indian PM
The Island
|April 07, 2025
In a diplomatic innings off the field, former Sri Lanka captain and 1996 World Cup hero Sanath Jayasuriya has made a heartfelt pitch to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging his support to build an international cricket ground in Jaffna a region teeming with raw, untapped talent.
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The iconic Sri Lankan side that pulled off a fairy-tale triumph in the 1996 Cricket World Cup scalping heavyweights like India in the semi-final and Australia in the final was invited by the Indian High Commission in Colombo to meet the visiting Prime Minister. Modi, a self-confessed cricket aficionado, is currently on a three-day state visit to Sri Lanka.
While six members of the World Cup-winning squad were missing - either abroad on business or deep in the trenches of the Indian Premier League - the rest of the squad turned up for the high-profile meet at Colombo's popular Taj Samudra Hotel.
This story is from the April 07, 2025 edition of The Island.
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