A Week in Sri Lanka

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Sirasa Kumariya - Not My Mail
2007-05-11 07:56:00
No prejudices. This was a mail I received, a one that has been circling around finally found its way to my inbox. As much as I hate the conduct of Sirasa, I wish to withhold my comments on this. But let me hear what you have to say.I have already written some posts about Sirasa before.Sirasa Cinema FestivalSirasa and PoliticsSirasa Super StarSirasa TeledramasThe following is the original email.I'm a contestant of Sirasa Kumar iya. I sent my application for Sirasa Kumariya,because I wanted to find out what these people are really going to do with this. Now I have been selected for the 4th round which consist of 60 girls. Today we had dancing practices for final day event of Sirasa Kumariya and I'm sending this to you just after arriving home. Have you seen what they shown in this Sirasa Kumariya program during weekdays on Sirasa TV???Most of the times the ...
More About: Mail , Mari , Rasa , Riya

A New Sri Lankan Blog Aggregator?
2007-05-05 18:49:00
With the increasing growth rate of the Sri Lanka n blog community, the idea of a comprehensive blog aggregator being introduced has been discussed by several bloggers recently. In terms of the current number of blogs maintained by Sri Lankans, kottu and achcharu ? the two widely known aggregators in Sri Lanka are providing a commendable service by syndicating them for the benefit of the community. However, the current functionality of these two aggregators is regularly being questioned in terms of their ability to serve the potential growth of the Sri Lankan blog community. As several bloggers pointed out previously, their basic functionality with regards to listing the Sri Lankan blogs would prove insufficient as more and more people get acquainted with blogging. A look at the blog aggregators of other countries would give an idea of the position we are in at present. To this end, I myself and some of my colleagues in the computer science department of the university of Co...
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Discussion on ?1985 LTTE Massacre Video?
2007-05-04 12:51:00
Now it would be the ideal time for me to start reviewing the responses received for my earlier post (hardly a post) on the video of 1985 LTTE massacre of Sinhalese people. As those who have watched it would remember, I intentionally avoided writing anything about it in the post itself, but just provided a link to a description of the original incident, hoping that someone (thankfully, in this case David Blacker and Sam) would question the authenticity of it and would ultimately lead to the general issue I wanted to discuss through it. Why I posted the video When I first received the footage I too was baffled to see the extent of planning carried out in terms of capturing the event in several angles (13 to be exact if my calculations are right). Most people, out of ignorance, out of inadequate scrutiny or out of hatred towards the LTTE (apparently, something I share too), seem to accept the video as authentic footage, though it is appreciative to find some who see beyond the se...
More About: Video , Massacre , Sion , Discussion , Mass

1985 LTTE Massacre [Video]
2007-05-03 07:41:00
One of the thousands of atrocities committed by the LTTE. Twenty two years later, they are hardly any different. Read the full story.(if you are facing difficulties viewing the video click here)
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The True Meaning of Vesak
2007-05-02 18:11:00
Two nights of blatant, incessant, lame Sinhalese songs. The kind that revolve around the wide range of flora in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. The vesak night and the night after have been very noisy for there is a musical fanfare right outside my home. No wait? it?s not a musical show. Oh my? a Dansalak. Nothing but the evidence of the pathetic state of this country. Even the religion is now been modernized, monetized and molded to suit the sinful desires of the people. However, the two mornings were rather blissful. With every TV channel telecasting Buddhist Dharma Deshana with minor interruptions to allow for the commercial advertisements, I listened, knowing for a fact that the general behavior of the Buddhists was to change at night. Oh the kinds I would meet on a vesak night? Whistling teenagers on their fancy bikes and wearing devil masks trying to make way through the hoards of crowds fleeing towards the town to see the giant, glimmering pandols. The disturbed adults indul...
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Three Month Old Blogger
2007-05-01 18:55:00
Yes, that?s me. Well, may be not in the absolute sense. But to the merriment of me and my conscience, I?ve lasted three months in the blogsphere. Among a significant number of bloggers who?ve established themselves as vigilant observers of life in Sri Lanka (Oh, did I forget to mention that I attempt to blog on Sri Lankan matters alone, to the best possible accuracy; the world is too much for me), I find myself with a humble pride to admit that after three months I?m in their little club. No it?s not an arrogant, pompous statement, but a true feeling of being accepted in the little community I care. With my late entry to the Sri Lankan blog community, I feel I?ve missed out on a lot. If only I knew the concept earlier! But that apart, I feel I should pen down the observations I?ve made during these three months on this growing community. The motive behind blogging (the categories as I see them) I don?t feel that my life and the events evolving around it are inter...
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World Cup 2007: Afterthoughts
2007-04-29 11:27:00
Disappointed? Not exactly. We may have lost the game but still it has left us with all the more reasons to be happy about. After thought What an eventful day it was? Rain delaying play until it was quite a boring task to sit in front of the TV for the first ball to be delivered; Gilchrist taking the game away from the Sri Lankans with superb batting; Weather teasing Sri Lankans throughout the second innings as though nature was disturbingly overwhelmed by the incessant prayers of the Sri Lankan supporters; and amidst all these, the LTTE roaming the Colombo skies for the sweetest target for their fireworks. Ok, about the match? It was nothing but pure professional cricket from a pure professional side. A thoroughly deserved win from the Aussies. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that Gilchrist took the game away from the Sri Lankans single-handedly. A fabulous, ruthless innings and a treat for the spectators, be it from any side. Though it is true that being Sri Lankan...
More About: World Cup , World , World Cup 2007 , Sri Lanka Cricket

My "One Before The Last" on World Cup
2007-04-28 08:16:00
A few more hours to go till the hopes of two nations, rested upon twenty two players, struggle to stay alive on a twenty two yard strap of earth. I wish not to produce another analytical post on the WC, those which obviously have not been any less during the last month wherever you see, but to divert the readers? attention towards some other things I think that has not yet been spoken about. Role of Gods in Today?s Game Leading on to the finals of the cricket world cup 2007, we Sri Lankans observed a myriad of religious activities that have been taking place throughout the island for the last two days. The large numbers of Bodhi Poojas in temples, the masses in churches and the offerings in the Hindu mosques have all added up to the measure of how much this nation craves for another world cup win. In the middle of all these, I?m baffled to hear contrasting yet logical views of certain people who seem to defy, not to mention mock, the behavior of Sri Lankans leading ...
More About: World Cup , World , Sri Lanka Cricket , Fore , The Last

?Friends? ? the Best Sitcom Ever
2007-04-25 12:56:00
Not a very happy post at all. I?ve just finished watching the Friends TV series ? the best sitcom ever. The TV series had been around for ten years when it telecasted its final episode in 2004. It was telecasted in Sri Lanka by a certain channel but I never got to watch all of it. So I?ve downloaded the complete 10 seasons, watched them all during the past few months and now I?m emotionally disturbed that it had to end. Without doubt, it is the best TV series I?d ever watched and I would hardly say that any other sitcom would ever take its place. The amazing combination of friendship, love, romance and laughter that was weaved around the six characters is just too much to say goodbye to. All the group hugging, all the I?ll-be-there-for-you stuff and all the merry moments of a group of friends through a time span of ten years just makes everyone see how beautiful this life is. The intricate work of its writers and actors to bring about some of best scenes in sitcom television e...
More About: Sitcom , Best , Ever , Ends

Their Side of the Story
2007-04-24 05:13:00
How true is the truth we know? How do we know the truth we know is actually the truth itself or something that is made a truth by someone else? The raging war between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan army is an ideal place to put this suspicion into test and as such has always been an issue for open criticism. The people in the south are dependant on the news brought to them by national and private media to establish their judgments on the actions of the two parties. On the other hand, we occasionally, compared with the frequency with which we receive the news from the media, hear the contrasting tale of a person who would actually happen to be in the hot spot. The difference between first hand experience and the follow up news are more than likely two sides of the river. But again, how do we decide which is true and which is not? They say a picture speaks a thousand words. Well, it may also attract a thousand comments. My recent post (well, hardly a post, just four links to fou...
More About: Story , Stor , The Story , Side , Tory

LTTE Cricket Fan at the SL Vs AUS Match[pics]
2007-04-19 05:02:00
Check out these links. Will give you a lot to think about. Comments are welcome.pic01pic02pic03pic04
More About: Cricket , Match

Lions Vs Kangaroos - Did we miss something???
2007-04-16 16:48:00
It?s 34 for 3 wickets (at the time of writing) and the Sri Lankans are struggling and struggling badly. The encounters with the Aussies have always been tough yet no other match against any other opposition is as enthralling as with the Aussies. Tough games should be fought with the optimum power that can be used. In that sense, has Sri Lanka got it all wrong? Yes, I?m talking about leaving Vaas and Murali out of today?s game. The experts see it as a meticulously crafted trick by the selectors, but to my little cricketing knowledge it?s a big mistake. How stupid is to leave Vaas and Murali, Sri Lanka?s two prime time bowlers, in a match against the world champions? Resting: what?s that? If they want to rest them let them do it in the next game with the Irelands. Why risk a perfectly even battle and give the Aussies the upper hand from the very beginning of the match? It was guaranteed that a Sri Lanka Vs Australia match would invite the biggest interest in the whole to...
More About: Miss , Lions , Something , Kangaroo , Thing

Bad Stars?. Really?
2007-04-15 15:35:00
See whether you find this humorous. Sri Lankan astrologers warn of "bad stars" Sunday, April 15, 2007, 6:49 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka. Apr 15, Colombo: Sri Lankan astrologers have stirred up anxieties among politicians as well as the general public by warning of an evil period of time to come. The so-called evil period was expected to begin yesterday with the dawn of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year and will reportedly last at least until the middle of July. Some famous astrologers anticipate a controversial time in politics in the coming months as well as more chaos and bloodshed. How much more evil can fall upon us in the future? To me, this has always been the case with Sri Lanka. It?s just stating the obvious. Too bad it took astrologers this long to figure that out. Any simple person in this country would confirm that evil has been here ever since the politicians started ruining this country and NO, it won?t stop in the middle of July. Not until a major pol...
More About: Stars , Real , Really , Ally

Sirasa - ?Wasanthaye Cinema Dasanthaya?
2007-04-15 15:02:00
The BEST TV channel in Sri Lanka, Sirasa TV, takes pride in presenting you the ?Wasanthaye Cinema Sanakeliya? for its smart and sophisticated viewers scattered around the country. Very little should be said about how much the school children, spending their vacation, will benefit from this series of movies. It is very commendable how much Sirasa thinks about adding value to the society. Without doubt these are the BEST movies ever produced in Sri Lanka. Here?s the line up from April 09th to 20th. Cheerio SergeantHai Hooi Boby AchchiLove 2002Kauda Bole Alice?Nawa Gilunath Ban ChoonPissu PoosoPissu Double Pissu Trible (I?m sure it?s not triple)Numba Naadan Apita PissuHitha Honda Pisso It should be appreciated how much Sirasa contributes to build up the aesthetic taste of the people in this country. No other channel does this much good to our people. Sirasa Rocks! And they ask why I hate Sirasa?..
More About: Sant , Rasa

President?s Tour of Rome: Another Jumbo Delegation???
2007-04-14 11:37:00
My recent adamant decision to withhold commenting about Sri Lankan politics in this blog seems to be shattering again. For over a month, I?ve decided to leave out politics from my posts, for the obvious reason that nothing?s going to change in this country, and let the news reel in the sidebar take care of it. I?m inclined not to blame myself since the politicians in Sri Lanka are too busy making news that we just can?t resist commenting about. President Mahinda Rajapakse is leaving for another foreign tour, this time to Rome . I have no objection on such official visits by the ruler of this country for at times this may be imperative. The question is, how much is he willing to spend on his jumbo delegation this time around? We?ve observed in the past that the president has a habit of accompanying all the ministers he could find whenever he is traveling abroad. The rumors are that most of the catholic ministers are already packing their bags, ready to grab the elephant?s ta...
More About: Tour , Another , Side

Homosexuality in Sri Lanka - Have Your Say
2007-04-13 10:22:00
A recent edition of the Anderson Cooper 360o on CNN featured a somewhat interesting yet controversial topic ? that of turning back gay and lesbian people and whether such transformation of sexuality, be it religiously or biologically, is truly possible. Interestingly, the bulk of the program evolved around the religious perspective of the subject, by that it means Christianity, what the bible has to say on this matter and how different people including the lay as well as the clergy, interpreted the very words of the holy book. The conversation to me was another continuation of the whole ?same sex marriage? story that has been featuring predominantly in the western world, and that again mostly in the United States, for quite sometime now. The mere effect this had on the US Presidential election and how this became a deciding issue, simply provides the platform as to how this has evolved to be a highly discussed matter in the present day. Being a Buddhist with only a little kno...
More About: Sri Lanka , Homosexuality , Sexuality , Have , Sexual

Sri Lankan National Identity Symbols
2007-04-06 09:31:00
Who decides these things and do we have to follow them by virtue of being Sri Lanka n? Various identity aspects we pose as descriptive of Sri Lanka are altogether little descriptive in their own selves. The national bird, the national tree and even the national sport itself. The question that baffles me is ?what is the basis on which these things pose themselves as national identity marks and who sets them in the first place?? The thought of finding facts in this came to me as I saw several desperate advertisements on the ?national television? to get the attention and support of the people to a certain ?volleyball? tournament ? volleyball being the national sport in Sri Lanka ? at a time when the majority of sports fans in Sri Lanka are obsessed with the ongoing world cup. No disrespect for volleyball, its fans, players and anything pertaining to it; but the question arises; On what basis does it qualify to be the national sport in Sri Lanka? Is it the popularity among t...
More About: National , Identity , Symbols

Marvan Atapattu ? Former Captain and Official Water Boy for the WC 2007
2007-04-05 16:55:00
As the cricket fans light up their bulbs till 3am in the morning, the world cup itself is heating up. With the recent nail biting win against the English, Sri Lankans are well on the way for a promising end to the tournament. Several interesting issues surfaced as the Sri Lankan team marched on to a reasonably safe state in the super 8s. These were focused on the Sri Lankan middle order batting, the teams? dependence on Sanath Jayasuriya and many more matters that were brought on to discussion by cricket gurus. With not-so-much knowledge on the intricate matters of the game, I thought of delving into certain issues which I believe would surface within the next three or four weeks and the most important being the inclusion of Marvan Atapattu in the team. From the start of the tournament it was seen that Marvan, former captain of Sri Lanka and an excellent one at that with a inspiring record, primarily played the role of a water-boy and was serving the team as the 12th player. ...
More About: World Cup , Sri Lanka Cricket , Water , Form , Official

From Birth to Death, All in One Place
2007-03-31 16:21:00
It’s about time we consider an increased improvement in the usage of technology in every-day lives of our people, at least to an extent close to what the developed countries are utilizing now. It is much believed that most of the bottlenecks that lie around the offices, especially the government ones, in Sri Lanka could be eliminated by the proper use of technology and a working culture adapted to embrace it. Though it is evident that to a certain extent the government offices utilize the luxuries of computer usage and the benefits of a properly managed information system, the majority of them are still under-utilizing these new prospects the evolving technology can offer. The recent decision by the Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs to computerize the birth certificate generation process seems to be a positive start at increasing this number. So much has been said and written about this, so the aim of this post is not to reiterate on the same thing, but to dev...
More About: Death , Birth , Place , Lace

Audio & Video piracy in Sri Lanka
2007-03-28 14:19:00
Intellectual Property Rights, Audi o & Video Piracy ; what does these words mean to you? May be nothing. But it seems that the heat is on the government and several wakeup calls seem to be alarming the government to do something about it. About 2 weeks earlier, the American Chamber of Commerce and its Sri Lanka n counterpart lobbied in an effort to find a solution to the rapid spreading of this issue of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) violation and the rampant audio & video piracy. There has always been much discussion about these matters, especially in the South and East Asian countries, and to this date, none of the solutions proved to be substantially sufficient. In Sri Lanka, however, people never notice that there exists something in the name of IPR, at least not the majority of the general public. I’ll limit this post to the video & audio piracy issue since currently it is the most gravest of them all. As most of us are aware, we can by a DVD originally worth $15...

Money Scams - it’s time to go public
2007-03-27 17:51:00
What is wrong with this country? Do we always entertain the exploitation of innocence by the powerful and the cunning? It seems that Sri Lanka has become a treasure land for the money scammers over the recent times and with the little intervention by the government to curb their activities, they seem to enjoy the gullibility of the Sri Lankan innocent people. Several such scams have swept through the country over the years and little awareness has been raised to preclude people from getting entangled in these schemes. I published a post earlier about the Typeinternational and its Sri Lankan franchise Alpha Holdings Pvt Ltd and how it turns out to be another money scam, reaping out the money from the less informed general public. This post is not intended to be replica of the previous one, but a result of something I observed in the newspaper today. I was amazed to see that Alpha Holdings has published a full page advertisement in one of the extra sections of Lakbima (March...
More About: Money , Public , Time , Scams , Scam

Sri Lankan Buddhist Monks - Between Nirvana and the Bloody Society
2007-03-24 00:59:00
Recently there was huge fuss over this issue where a monk had submitted an application to become an ASP in the Sri Lanka n Police and the issue has raised considerable concern in the media as well as the inquisitive general public. Going thorough some of the threads in certain news sites, I happen to find several interesting comments from the readers on not just on this single issue, but on the whole idea of monks breaking the shackles and stepping out of the traditional conduct that was incorporated with their robe for centuries. It seems that, though there were numerous examples from our history where Buddhist monks stepped out of their general conduct which was entrusted upon them by the Sasana and got engaged in matters of the lay people, the real excitement surfaced as the JHU monks took the approach to enter the politics of Sri Lanka by representing the people in the parliament. Even as the history depicts that there were several cases where the Buddhist monks gave leadersh...
More About: Society , Monk , Nirvana , Soci

Sri Lankan Women and the Middle East - there's more to it.
2007-03-13 01:21:00
My last post on the lives of Sri Lanka n women employed in the Middle East attracted a great comment from lanka personalities who had made some absorbing observations on this issue through first hand experience that I thought I should publish as a separate post so that it can reach a wider range of readers. So here is the original comment posted by lanka personalities in his own words and I think his ideas need some serious attention from the responsible personnel. As a Sri Lankan, living and working in the Middle East since 1979, my family and I have raised this issue with almost every single Ambassador who was appointed to serve in KSA with a view to woo the government back home to ban this evil business of sending women to work as maids, but to no apparent avail as the nations seems to need the foreign exchange that the girls send back home each month, badly.What a price to pay for the dignity of our impoverished yet beautiful women? Sad but true.To give you a brief synopsis of t...
More About: Women , The Middle East , Men

Sri Lankan Women and the Middle East
2007-03-11 19:08:00
How important is the presence of parents to a family? The answer; Essential. The smallest building block of the society needs both its forerunners in order to sustain a healthy unit. However, the present Sri Lanka n society has seen a shake out in this unit as most mothers leave the country for foreign employment, an issue which has several consequences, mostly negative, on the children of the family. Mostly the girls, having been deprived of the care and protection of their mother often become the victim of sexual molestation, even from her own father, or may even be forced into hard labor. The boys most of the time get into the use of drugs, show disturbed behavior and ultimately may turn into criminals becoming a threat to the society at large. The traditional Sri Lankan society that was based around agriculture saw the involvement of both parents of a family in making their income from farming. 1977 introduction of the free trading and the social turn around that took place ...
More About: Women , Middle East , The Middle East , Men

Sirasa, Wimal and then some
2007-03-10 17:46:00
The other day as I was watching the news bulletin on Sirasa TV, a news item on Sirasa receiving the award for the best educational and cultural program in a national television award ceremony (I can’t recall the ceremony exactly) struck me with amaze and gave me a lot to think about. Being unable to figure out for which programs Sirasa received these awards, I thought of exploring a bit about the lineup of programs in Sirasa, its role in Sri Lankan society and other related issues. Obviously, Sirasa is the most popular TV channel in Sri Lanka, at least among the simple, average citizens with an average taste. Sirasa has achieved this supposedly due to the main reason that they have got their marketing strategy right. They have properly figured out their target audience and have been innovating to serve that target group which consists of the majority of the Sri Lankan TV viewing people. Their ability to identify the taste of the general public has put them on a preferential ...
More About: Rasa , Some , Then

UCSC IT Quiz Competition
2007-03-09 08:39:00
The University of Colombo School of Comp uting (UCSC) launched its prevalent mass scale project back in September 2006 – the UCSC IT Quiz Competition . As a member of the organizing team, I feel privileged to be a part of a socially benefiting act carried out by an able group of undergraduates and as the project is reaching its conclusion, thought of sharing the journey up to now with my readers. UCSC IT Quiz Competition originally came up as an idea from the Students’ Union of the UCSC and its primary aim was to disperse the Information Technology knowledge, more or less confined to the urban areas of Sri Lanka, to the outskirts of distant areas in the country, to enhance the IT awareness of the school children and to extract and reward their hidden talents. The Ministry of Education and the Information and Communications Technology Agency (ICTA) were the partners in this project who have to this date given immense support to the Students’ Union and the organizing team in c...
More About: Petition , Petit

Someone tell me WHY
2007-03-06 17:24:00
After arriving from a two day trip to Nuwara-Eliya, here I am, looking at my last post on Mahinda’s trip to china and trying my best to compare my expenses to that of the Sri Lankan delegation just to see where I stand in the hierarchy. Comparisons aside, it turns out that I haven’t posted enough factual data in that post at least to get my resentment on the actions of our leaders out of my system. So here’s more of it. According to Irudina – the Sri Lankan weekend newspaper – the total cost of Mahinda’s journey to china had skyrocketed to Rs.60,000,000 (60 million). Those who didn’t know why Sri Lanka is still an underdeveloped country, well there’s one reason to add to your list. Little space is left for justification of such extravagance expenditure from the part of the rulers in a third world country where the majority of the general public is either below the poverty line or is struggling to pull off the escalating cost of living. It’s a tragedy to witn...
More About: Tell , Tell Me , Some

Mahinda, with the Great Wall around him
2007-03-02 16:48:00
If it wasn’t for the fear that this blog would turn out to be a comic editorial of the Sri Lankan politics, I would have made this post a lot longer. But for that due reason, I’ll try to keep this short. The President Mahinda Rajapakse’s tour of China had made news for the past few days for the important prospects it carries for the country and for the renewing relationships with the giant in Asia. The purpose, the productivity and the positive outcomes of this tour will be assessed by those who have mastered the issues on international affairs but for a simple citizen living in this small island, something else came into my mind. The line of ministers hanging by the tail of the elephant. So is it just me or has it become the “The highlight of Mahinda Chinthanaya” to accompany with him an overwhelming group of ministers in each of his official visits to foreign lands? A little digging into the recent past brings out how the president filled New York with his ca...
More About: Great , With , Great Wall , Wall , Round

Now, the Law Says……….
2007-03-01 17:17:00
“Unawareness of law is not an excuse”. What Unawareness? Please…!!!........Visit www.lawnet.lk. At last something promising to talk about here at home. The first ever online legal information repository of Sri Lanka was launched on the 27th February with the presence of Chief Justice Sarath.N.Silva. The project funded by the World Bank was launched as a means of enhancing the judicial system in Sri Lanka by allowing access to up-to-date information in the system as well as to increase the awareness of the general public on the evolving issues of law in the country. The website is comprehensive in the sense that the use of it is dedicated not only to the personnel in the legal system itself but to the inquisitive general public as well. As far as the counselors are concerned, the website provides ample information on a diverse area of issues such as the ongoing cases, completed cases and the up-to-date list of dates the cases are to be heard in the Suprem...
More About: The Law

West Indies.......Here we come
2007-03-01 12:52:00
Just another 13 days to go. The biggest event in the year for the cricketing fans around the world, as for my concerns the Sri Lankans the most, is just around the corner and waiting to become one of the most elated sporting events in 2007. With the world cup approaching so much has been said lately of teams, players and their strategies to the world cup. Being a cricket enthusiast, I just thought I’d share my views on the coming series. So let’s start with our boys. The 15 member squad in the Sri Lankan team seems to be geared up for a promising tour in the West Indie s with huge support from its fans in Sri Lanka and abroad. Facing the tournament as the sixth in the ICC cricket rankings, the Sri Lankan team has received varying remarks from the public to be among the top favorites to win the world cup. However, most people would say that this seems to be the most potentially sound Sri Lankan team participating in a world cup after the one which placed Sri Lanka on the w...
More About: Come , Here , West Indies