Sri Lanka Cricket to organize charity game to help nation's COVID fight

With the world grappling with the deadly coronavirus pandemic, many organizations and individuals have tried their best to contribute and help the sufferers around by donating and making contributions in their capacity.

In one such initiative, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has decided to organize a charity game between Sri Lanka Greats XI and Team Sri Lanka, to be played on May 04, 2021, at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

Sri Lanka Greats XI will comprise former legendary Sri Lankan cricketers, including the members of the 1996 Cricket World Cup triumph, while the ‘Team Sri Lanka’ will comprise players representing the National, Emerging, and Development Squads of Sri Lanka Cricket. The T20 game that will commence at 07.00 pm at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, will be shown live, both in Sri Lanka and overseas as per a statement released by the SLC.

The funds raised from the broadcast of the proposed T20 game will be directed to help Sri Lanka’s response towards fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the SLC said in a statement.

The match will be played for a noble cause: Sri Lanka Cricket Chairman

“The match will be played on May 4 as planned at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. We wanted to invite a few greats from Australia and other countries, where they are presently settled but the current COVID pandemic situation would not allow it,” stated the chairman of the managing committee of the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board, Arjuna de Silva,

“We also had plans to open this match partially for the fans but it has now been decided to play without spectators. This T20 match will be played for a noble cause. Team Sri Lanka, likely to be led by Dasun Shanaka will be a combination of a few national players and youngsters,” he added.

Sri Lanka Greats XI will be led by Sanath Jayasuriya while Hashan Tilakaratne is set to serve as coach-cum-player of the team. Dasun Shanaka has been handed the captaincy duties of Team Sri Lanka, which comprises some players representing the current national side.

Arvinda de Silva, Farveez Maharoof, Upul Chandana, Upul Tharanga, Nuwan Kulasekera, Dhammika Prasad, and Chamara Silva are some of the major names who will feature in the Sri Lanka Greats XI team. Whereas the likes of Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, and youngsters Avishka Fernando Aashitha Fernando, Pathum Nissanka will feature for Team Sri Lanka.

 

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