da stake casino： The Ministry of Sports and Tourism has approved the same squadpresented by the Sri Lankan national selectors for the forthcomingCoca-Cola Cup
Staff and Agencies14-Jul-2001* Sports Minister finally approves Sri Lanka squadThe Ministry of Sports and Tourism has approved the same squadpresented by the Sri Lankan national selectors for the forthcomingCoca-Cola Cup. The Sports Minister, Lakshman Kiriella, had earlierrefused to approve the 15-man squad, questioning the omission of offspinner Thilan Samaraweera.Normally the players selected need the approval of the Minister ofSports and generally the names are approved by the Minister. But thistime the Minister controversially refused approval, insisting onSamaraweera’s inclusion.The Minister refused approval for two days but on Friday the Board ofControl for Cricket in Sri Lanka released the names of playersapproved by the minister, which didn’t contain the name ofSamaraweera.* Sri Lankan tour will be challenging, says DravidIndian vice-captain Rahul Dravid has said the coming Sri Lankan tourwould be challenging and that he was looking forward to it. “The tripwill be challenging. Sri Lanka has always been a challenging andinteresting venue. I am looking forward to it”, the 28-year-oldbatsman told reporters in Bangalore on Friday.India is scheduled to play in the limited overs tri-series, involvingSri Lanka and New Zealand, after which it would take on the islandnation in a three Test series.Dravid said he was disappointed with his batting in two crunch matchesin Zimbabwe during the recent tour, but expressed happiness that hewas among the runs. “I was disappointed with the way I played in thefinal of the tri-series tournament (against the West Indies)”, hesaid.