Rohan Abeygunawardena

• The Mother of All Cricket Rivalries in Asia”

After weeks of uncertainty, the first-round match between India and Pakistan of the 2026 T20 will be played today at Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

The match is among the most-watched sporting events in the world, attracting hundreds of millions of viewers globally. Past high-profile matches (such as ICC World Cup or T20 World Cup clashes) have also drawn over 300–400 million viewers worldwide, making this rivalry one of the most watched in cricket history. Consequently, it exceeds many other global sporting events.

There was political controversy and reports that Pakistan’s government initially instructed its team to boycott the match against India. This caused major uncertainty over whether the classic rivalry fixture would take place.

The controversy began when Bangladesh withdrew from the World Cup earlier, citing safety concerns about playing in India. Instead of addressing their concerns, the ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland. Pakistan’s government and cricket leadership believed this move was unfair. As a show of support and solidarity with Bangladesh, and accusing the ICC of double standards, Pakistan refused to play India.

Sri Lanka faced a similar situation when some countries refused or hesitated to tour Sri Lanka, citing security concerns during the 1996 Cricket World Cup. However, they were not removed from the tournament. The ICC sent an independent security delegation to Sri Lanka, conducted risk assessments of venues, hotels, and transportation routes, and consulted with local authorities and foreign security experts.

After several days of negotiations involving the ICC, PCB, Bangladesh Cricket Board, and government officials—including Sri Lanka’s—Pakistan reversed the boycott decision. The main reason for this change was ICC assurances that Bangladesh would face no penalties for withdrawing.

Additionally, Sri Lanka’s president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, played a visible diplomatic role in encouraging Pakistan to reverse its boycott and play the India match in Colombo. It is reported that he personally called Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and urged him to reconsider Pakistan’s boycott decision, stressing the importance of the match going ahead. It is also reported that the Sri Lankan president has reminded the Pakistani prime minister that when Australia and the West Indies refused to travel to Colombo, citing security risks during the 1996 World Cup, the two arch-rivals, India and Pakistan, agreed to play an exhibition match in Colombo, affirming their trust in Sri Lanka and offering a lifeline to its tournament ambitions.

Pakistan then changed their stance and agreed to play the match, ensuring the fixture would proceed.

• When Pakistan Team Wanted To Pull Out Of First Sri Lanka-Pakistan Test Series

Pakistan’s first tour of Sri Lanka after Sri Lanka achieved Test status was in February 1986. The first test was at Asgiriya, where Sri Lanka lost by innings. Before the second test on March 14 at CCC, the President of the Board of Control, Gamini Dissanayake, was determined to secure a series victory. He called a meeting with officials and players to share his ambition.

The second test began at the CCC grounds. Pakistan was bowled out for 132 in the first innings, while Sri Lanka scored 273. In the second innings, Pakistan scored 172, and Sri Lanka needed only 33 runs to win. Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets.

Pakistan players, led by Imran Khan, were unhappy with many umpiring decisions. At the time, there was no neutral umpiring, and Sri Lankan umpires officiated. There was also no Decision Review System (DRS). After the second test, Pakistani players and the captain asked officials to cancel the series. The Pakistan manager contacted their Board of Control officials, who sent a senior official to discuss with Sri Lankan officials and diplomatically withdraw the team.

The Pakistani official first spoke with the vice president of the Board of Control for Cricket, Ian Pieris (former Sri Lanka cricketer and Cambridge blue), then with the president.

Nearly two hours of talks yielded no favourable outcome. Gamini Dissanayake then called President J.R. Jayewardene, briefed him on the situation, and JRJ, a cricket fan, invited them to his residence at Ward Place.”

JRJ listened to both sides and then quietly walked to his land phone and dialled. When someone answered, he said, Your Excellency, these 22 fools in flannels are trying to disrupt the good relations between our countries. Therefore, I am ordering the Pakistan team to stay and continue the game.”

The Pakistani president at the time, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, spoke to the Pakistan official over the phone. He assured President J.R. Jayewardene that they would continue the tour.

The third test was played at The Oval and resulted in a draw, marking Sri Lanka’s first series draw. Thus Sri Lanka drew a series for the first time after attaining test status.

Pakistan won the 5 match ODI series 2 – 0.

If J.R. Jayewardene were living today, he would have called the limited-over and T20 teams these twenty-two fools in multi-coloured pyjamas.”

• Sri Lankans Contribution to World of Cricket, on Field and Off the Field.

Sri Lankans have made significant contributions to the world of cricket. In the 1996 World Cup matches, Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana transformed the first 15 overs from a survival phase” into a weapon with their ultra-aggressive opening batting.

Sri Lankan world cup winning Captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who challenged umpiring norms and player authority, helped create the world’s best spinner – the great Muttiah Muralitharan, who redefined what spin bowling could be. He is widely considered the greatest spinner of all time, holding the record for the most Test wickets (800) and 534 ODI wickets.

Off the field, the Sri Lankan fan contribution to cricket culture includes the famous high-energy brass band style Papare” music.

Most notably, Sri Lankan lawyer Senaka Weeraratne proposed the concept of the Player Referral System (now commonly called the Decision Review System – DRS) in 1997. This system was introduced to review controversial decisions made by on-field umpires regarding whether the batsman was correctly dismissed.

Senaka Weeraratne, known as the father of UDRS or DRS, has yet to receive adequate recognition from the ICC. I appeal to all cricket fans to pressure the ICC to be fair and avoid any double standards.

Rohan Abeygunawardena

(Writer could be contacted on abeyrohan@gmail.com)