T20 World Cup 2022: Jonny Bairstow has a hilarious take on Sri Lanka’s ‘long’ national anthem

Before any major sporting event, the national anthem of the sides clashing is played which unites and builds a sense a of patriotism among players to fight hard for the nation. The ICC T20 World Cup 2022 too follows the same pattern and fans have witnessed some beautiful anthems being played before the clash.

England wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow expressed his stance on Sri Lanka’s rather ‘long’ national anthem ahead of the fixture against New Zealand. The Lankan anthem is about two and half minutes long that follows a beautiful tune and lyrics composed by Ananda Samarakoon, a student of Rabindranath Tagore.

Bairstow took to social media to share his thoughts over the national anthem of Sri Lanka that was played before the clash against New Zealand.

Is the Sri Lanka National Anthem the longest in the world?
Some people can’t remember 1 verse of the English and don’t know the second! 😂 great effort!

— Jonny Bairstow (@jbairstow21) October 29, 2022

“Is the Sri Lanka National Anthem the longest in the world? Some people can’t remember 1 verse of the English and don’t know the second! great effort!”, said Bairstow on Twitter.

The Lankan Lions have one of the longest anthems among the list of cricketing nations. Interestingly, another Asian side, Bangladesh tops the the list of the longest anthems with an undefeatable duration of 2 minutes and 45 seconds.

Sri Lanka loses the important clash against New Zealand

The Lankan Lions started off the match against New Zealand by picking up two wickets in quick succession, however, a majestic knock played by Glenn Phillips in the middle order that turned into a century (104) off just 64 balls changed the complexion of the game. Furthermore, the knock gave the Kiwis a competitive total to fight for in the second innings.

In response, Sri Lanka were no match to the sheer dominance put forth by the New Zealand side as Trent Boult took matters into his own hands and scalped a four-fer. Adding to this, he only gave away 13 runs off his stipulated four overs. Sri Lanka are now virtually knocked out of the marquee tournament due to their damaged net run rate following the 65-run loss at the hands of the Kiwis.