Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar visited Sri Lanka first in 1993 to play a three-match series. Over the next 17 years, he travelled here to play several matches.
But, his current trip to Colombo is “to play a different match, a match against all diseases caused by diarrhoea.”
Sachin, donning the cap of the UNICEF’s goodwill ambassador for south Asia, said that it was not just an 11-member squad but “entire Sri Lanka is going to be involved in the match.”
His “teammate” in this match is cricketer Muttiah Muralidharan or, in short, Murali. Both teamed up to launch a campaign, highlighting the importance of hygiene and sanitation in Sri Lanka, at an event organised by the UNICEF here on Monday.
Sachin recalled how his mother had taught him the importance of handwashing in the early years of life. Murali said that rural areas in Sri Lanka were better placed than urban centres with regard to the provision of toilets. He called for the setting up of more public toilets in cities and tea plantations.
Seventeen per cent of schools and 14 per cent of households in Sri Lanka do not have adequate sanitation coverage. Sachin urged local heroes and celebrities to promote the cause of sanitation.
True to their passion for the game, the cricketers wound up the launch by playing with children.
