Australia tour of Sri Lanka in jeopardy amidst economic crisis in the country

Sri Lanka has been going through an economic crisis for the last few months. The people of the country are struggling for essential items. There have been instances of violent protests across the Asian country. In the midst of all this, Sri Lanka Cricket are hosting Australia for all-format series. The T20I series is concluded and the teams are playing the ODIs.

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Meanwhile, on June 18, the Sri Lanka Government announced that the public sector offices will be shut due to fuel shortages in the country. For the unversed, one of the reasons for the economic crisis is the shortage of foreign exchange reserves which is why the fuel is less in the island nation. On the other hand, frequent power outages, the schools have been shut and the classes will be taken online.

Notably, no power outage incident has been recorded in the five white-ball games played by the two teams so far. The T20I series was won by the Aussies by 2-1, while the five-match ODI series is levelled 1-1, with the third one-dayer currently taking place. After the ODI series, the teams will play the two-match Test series which will conclude the series. Ahead of the series, SLC secretary Mohan de Silva had said that the board is proud of hosting Australia which will help the country on the economic front.

“While welcoming the Australians, I am proud to say that the Australian tour is very important to the country not only on the cricket front but also economically given the foreign exchange revenue accruing to the country during this critical juncture of the economy as Sri Lanka Cricket has unanimously decided to donate all the proceeds for the benefit of the people,” de Silva was quoted as saying by Sri Lanka Cricket.

Spectators have turned up in huge numbers during the series. The money earned from the sale of tickets will be used in public welfare initiatives which will eventually boost the supply of the scarce essential items.