Nidahas Trophy 2018: Nation-wide emergency in Sri Lanka puts the series in jeopardy

The future of Nidahas Trophy is looking bleak following the nation-wide state of emergency declared by Sri Lanka Government on Tuesday. The emergency has been announced for next 10 days and the tri-series is all set to commence as the hosts Sri Lanka take on their neighbours India in the opening game. Bangladesh is the third country in the tournament. However, it remains to be seen if the series even starts as scheduled on March 6 at 7 PM in the evening.

The reason for announcing the state of emergency are the riots due to the communal clashes between Buddhists and Muslims. The step has been taken after the local curfew was imposed on Monday in the central city Kandy after days of turmoil between the religious communities with a Buddhist man killed only to set the Muslim businesses on fire. There had been riots and arson attacks in Kandy since weekend over the matter to main law and orders of the nation.

“Sri Lanka’s government has imposed a nation-wide state of emergency to “take stern action” against people instigating communal violence,” the Government spokesman was quoted as saying by Aljazeera on Tuesday.

What will happen if the series is called off?

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) might have to bare a huge amount of loss in case they have to call-off the prestigious series which was arranged to commemorate their 70 years of independence. The game between India and Sri Lanka is already sold out and the similar crowd is expected for the whole series given the popularity of the T20 format. Also, there seems to be no window for the tournament to reschedule with the packed schedule of the teams these days.

Moreover, this series was not included in the FTP and both BCCI and SLC preponed Sri Lanka’s tour to India which was due to take place in March this year.

However, there is no statement over the matter from Sri Lanka Cricket board.

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