World Cup fever in Kandy

Hafiz Marikar

World Cup fever from the main city heads to the Kandyan Kingdom today where Sri Lanka led by a product of Kandy Kumar Sangakkara take on Zimbabwe in a group 'A' game, this team comprises two more Kandy products Muttiah Muralitharan and Chamara Kapugedera.

This promotion will enable all Sri Lanka cricket fans to get into the World Cup mode and familiarize themselves with stumpy the official mascot for ICC World Cup 2011 who has arrived in Kandy.

The voice of stumpy promotion will also help create excitement for this world-class event and inject fun with a difference in the process. On a daily basis the promotion will reveal a particular "Cricket" related term and encourage the public to call in and voice that term as stumpy which would, in effect, give stumpy a voice. In addition to daily prizes, the lucky winner of the grand prize will get a pair of tickets to a quarter finals game of the ICC Cricket World Cup - 2011.

In order to raise the temperature and ensure that all Sri Lankan cricket fans grasp World Cup fever great entertainment has been enlisted in a bid to further build up the entusiasum of the ICC's flagship event. The concert buzz has reached the Hill Capital. Pallakele Cricket Stadium, Kandy too, is on the road to add to this growing list of character filled grounds around the World. The stadium which is also known as "Muttiah Muralideran Cricket Stadium" was successfully completed with all facilities and is in prime condition.

Its striking feature is the attention paid to its surroundings. A low-lying shrub jungle bordering an Industrial Zone which encircles the grounds is fully dressed up for the occasion in grand style and will sport picture postcard look with a picturesque background with mountains of Hunasgiriya and Knuckles Range.

Let's face it, at the beginning of 2011 Pallakele Stadium was far behind the expectations of the ICC Officials, but within a few weeks there was a huge turn around, it was no easy task ! In fact, the Chairman D.S. de Silva and Suraj Dandeniya worked round the clock with a formidable team to ensure that dead lines of the ICC were met.

Besides, the Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage was constantly visiting all three stadiums to ensure that work was stepped up and above all emphasised on quality and standards.

The Chairman SLC - D.S. de Silva said that he gave a promise to the ICC Officials that SLC will deliver despite the adverse weather conditions prevailing then, this was to ensure an overall improvement with standards with all extras on all stadiums. He is a happy man now and sits back and says thank God !

The biggest hurdle is over and now it's left to our National players to do the rest having toiled day and night with patience and commitment facing all hostile forces.

It was not only the stadium, that has to be ready for the event but also the host city and the surrounding of the stadium that has to be ready for the event, if the event is to be successful. The Kandy Municipal Council along with the Pradeshiya Sabbha in area also shares a big responsibility in improving the facilities of the city.

The KMC undertakes the project to beautify the city to suit the event by cleaning and beautifying the access roads to the stadium for the ICC World Cup as a hosting city.