Date:24/04/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/04/24/stories/2007042404922000.htm

Sport

Lanka's '96 heroes root for World Cup success

ALL THE BEST, BOYS: Aravinda de Silva and Roshan Mahanama hope Mahela Jayawardene's men will bring back the World Cup. — Photo: AFP

Colombo: Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup winning cricketers joined other athletes and artists on Monday to encourage the national team to grab the Cup again and repeat the country's greatest sporting triumph of 11 years ago.

Aravinda de Silva, whose unbeaten century ensured Sri Lanka's famous win over Australia in the 1996 final, along with teammates Roshan Mahanama, Hashan Tillakaratne, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Upul Chandana, Kumar Dharmasena and Ravindra Pushpakumara, gathered at Colombo's Nondescripts Cricket Club for the rally.

They were joined by sprinting hero Susanthika Jayasinghe, who won the bronze medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the women's 200m. Damayanthi Dharsha, who has three Asian Games gold medals, and Sunil Gunawardena, member of Sri Lanka's 4x400m silver medal team of 1974 Asian Games were also among the participants.

The stars, along with parents of the current players, signed a note to be faxed to the team preparing to take on New Zealand in the semifinals in Jamaica on Tuesday.

Sri Lanka's captain current captain Mahela Jayawardene as well as teammates Kumar Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan thanked the well-wishers by telephone. ``We are now reaping the results of years of hard work, the team is free of injuries and looks forward to winning the semifinal,'' Jayawardene said. — AP