:-Abhijit Deshmukh
The Sri Lanka Legends have fired the first salvo! The Islanders’ hard-hitting opening batsman Romesh Kaluwitharana, left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and the lanky fast-bowling all-rounder Farveez Maharoof have today proclaimed that they are going to renew their past rivalry with their old foes when all five nations lock horns during the Unacademy Road Safety World Series starting March 7 in Mumbai.
Kaluwitharana, who had changed the whole complexion of the limited overs game with his explosive hitting in the first few overs during his playing days said: “We can’t wait any longer to get on the field and renew our old rivalry against all these teams in fray here. We have been practicing together for the past few days in Colombo and we are in pretty good shape. It will be fun,” said the diminutive opener during the team’s jersey launch event organised by the title sponsors and team owners StrikinGold.
The immigration advisory company, StrikinGold, will be seen on the front side of Sri Lanka Legends jersey at the mega event. StrikinGold has taken up to promote Portugal Opportunities Fund (a fund by Quadrantis Capital) which also makes you eligible for Portuguese permanent residency or citizenship. StrikinGold intends to raise around €100 million to start with and this is aimed at strengthening and contributing to the flourishing Indo-Portugal trade ties.
“StrikinGold’s association with Sri Lanka Legends is an international business venture with sales and marketing transcending borders and what better way that to associate with a team that has so many players from the 1996 World Cup winning team,” said Mr. Pratul Jain, Director, Strikingold.
Elaborating on the association Mr. Jain, added, “StrikinGold is all about a better future and opportunities for a family and what better way to start it but support a cause like Road Safety. Through this partnership we want to reach out to people to make a decision which will help them to be prepared for the future. Just like your safety on roads, securing a safe future should also be our top priority.”
Mr. Yash Sardesai, Sri Lanka Legends co-owner on the association said, “It is great to see so many legends come back and bat for a noble cause. In today’s fast moving world, we just tend to ignore these basic things which help us shape a better society. We are really excited to help in spread this cause with the help of this great team with all legendary names. The support of these legendary players is our strength and we aim to have a great year.”
Adding to what Herath said: “Yes, we have a pretty good side and though I am sure competition will be tough, we stand a good chance to clinch the title. This is one of the most lethal teams in the series who are poised to win the inaugural edition of the Unacademy Road Safety World Series.”
Maharoof said: “The Unacademy Road Safety World Series is such an amazing initiative, I want to thank the organisers for bringing us all together to play the game we all love for a noble cause of saving lives on the roads.”
Apart from the trio, some other members of the team includes Muttiah Muralitharan, Marvan Attapattu, Tillakaratne Dilshan, (captain), Chaminda Vaas, Sachithra Senanayake, Chamara Kapugedera, Thilan Thushara, Upul Chandana and Malinda Warnapura.
Sri Lanka Legends will play their first match against Australia Legends at the Wankhede Stadium at 7:00 pm on Sunday, 8th March. All matches will be telecast live on COLORS Cineplex, COLORS Kannada Cinema along with VOOT and Jio, which are the digital partners.
SRI LANKA LEGENDS SCHEDULE (All Matches Start at 7:00pm IST)
March 8, 2020 : Australia Legends vs Sri Lanka Legends @ Wankhede (Mumbai)
March 10, 2020 : India Legends vs Sri Lanka Legends @ DY Patil (Navi Mumbai)
March 13, 2020 : South Africa Legends vs Sri Lanka Legends @ DY Patil (Navi Mumbai)
March 17, 2020 : West Indies Legends vs Sri Lanka Legends @ MCA Stadium (Pune)
March 22, 2020: FINAL @ TBA
The Unacademy Road Safety World Series is a five-nation T20 cricket tournament which will showcase some of the biggest names in cricket from India, Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies and South Africa. Some notable players who will feature in this Series includes Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Brett Lee, Brad Hodge, Jonty Rhodes, Lance Klusener and many more. Former India captain, Padma Bhushan and the living legend, Mr Sunil Gavaskar is the Commissioner of the Series.
Every year, more than 1.5-2 lakh people die on Indian roads due to vehicular accidents; one person dies every 4 minutes and 1,214 road accidents occur every day in the country. As cricket is the most followed sport in the country and cricketers are looked up to as idols, the Series aims to create awareness about road safety and change people’s mind-set towards their behaviour on the roads.
