Sri Lanka Cricket Coach Sanath Jayasuriya Requests PM Modi's Help to Bring International Cricket to Jaffna

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently met with the 1996 ICC World Cup-winning Sri Lankan cricket team during his two-day official visit to the island nation. 

The members of the victorious team, including Kumar Dharmasena, Aravinda de Silva, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vaas, Upul Chandana, and Marvan Atapattu presented a memento to PM Modi to mark the occasion. 

However, Jayasuriya - who is also now the head coach of the Sri Lankan national team - also personally thanked PM Modi and India for their help during the civil war. 

"When we had unrest, problems in Sri Lanka, you and the government helped us a lot. We are always grateful to you for helping Sri Lanka," Jayasuriya said. 

Jayasuriya's Request to PM Modi

He then went one step further and asked the Indian Prime Minister to help bring international cricket to the district of Jaffna. 

"As the coach of Sri Lanka, at the moment we play all over Sri Lanka except Jaffna. If India can help us to bring international ground in Jaffna, there will be a big help for the people in Jaffna North and Eastern parts," he said.

He added that the proposed stadium in Jaffna would play a key role in uplifting cricket in the Northern and Eastern provinces. 

Why This Request?

Jaffna is located in the far north of the country but its ties to India are significant - the population of the area is almost exclusively Sri Lankan Tamil. 

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The area was also impacted heavily by the civil war, with an estimated 1,00,000 people killed there during the era of the war. 

Just like the sport of cricket has helped Sri Lanka improve its global standing, so too could the sport lead to renewed hopes for development in Jaffna.