Sri Lankans are proud of their heroes who pulled off a six-wicket win over tournament favourites India here on Tuesday. They believe the odds several of the players have had to transcend on their path to becoming international cricketers have contributed to their triumph.

For instance, left-arm medium pacer Dilshan Madushanka, who took three Indian wickets, including that of Virat Kohli for a duck, is from a small village west of Hambantota in the island’s southern province. Son of a fisherman, he barely had any money to buy a pair of boots till he was spotted by former Sri Lankan pacer Chaminda Vaas, who asked Madushanka to join the Under-19 camp.

Opener Pathum Nissanka, who scored 52, is the son of a groundsman from the Kalutara Esplanade cricket ground. His mother sold flowers near a temple to earn a living.

Unexpected faces

Among the many spectators arriving for the match were two women, who did not look either Indian or Sri Lankan. Turns out one of them was from the Philippines and the other was her friend, a Russian.

On being asked by The Telegraph what got them interested in cricket, the Filipino said: “I have a Pakistani friend. He is crazy about cricket and he gave us a ticket for this match. I hear them talk about cricket all the time, so I wanted to know what makes them go crazy.”

The Russian said: “I heard about this game only after coming here and wanted to know why thousands of people withstand all this heat to come to watch this sport.” A member of the Bharat Army, the Team India supporters’ group, had a “Welcome to Kohli’s 71st century” banner.

Unfortunately, he could not wave it since Kohli fell without scoring a run.

Sly Silverwood

Englishman Chris Silverwood, the Sri Lanka coach, celebrated the fall of Rohit Sharma by jumping out of his seat and flexing his biceps. An official in the media box remarked that he resembled actor Sylvester ‘Sly’ Stallone. Like most Sri Lankan players, Silverwood too has a long name — Christopher Eric Wilfred Silverwood. As a former England pacer, it is said he could bowl faster than South Africa’s Allan Donald.