Team Sri Lanka celebrates Asia Cup win with double-decker ride

Members of Sri Lanka's victorious Asia Cup team will travel through Colombo on a double-decker bus and interact with delirious fans to toast their success over Pakistan, officials said on Monday.

Sri Lanka crushed Pakistan by 23 runs to win their sixth Asia Cup title in Dubai on Sunday, bringing much cheer to the people of the crisis-hit island nation, who have been hit hard by the worst economic turmoil in several decades.

The Dasun Shanaka-led team arrived on Tuesday morning at 5 am, and were welcomed by officials from Sri Lanka Cricket and the Sports Ministry at the Bandaranaike International Airport here, officials said. The team then participated in a victory parade at 6.30 am, and undertook a double-decker bus tour from Colombo to Katunayake and interact with fans, officials said.

Sri Lanka's netball team also brought glory to the country by winning the 2022 Asian Championships on Sunday. "Believe in our cricketers…a lot of bad things are going around. As cricketers, they too should enjoy their lives as well, not spreading bad things. They have private lives too. Keep believing, that is the key. As a captain, I give confidence to the players, [whatever] I can. I can't ask for more than that," captain Shanaka said at the post-match conference, as Sri Lanka's unprecedented economic crisis formed the backdrop of the cricket team's Asia Cup campaign.