The Oval — a beacon of Tamil-Sinhala unity
IN the mid-1950s or maybe even as far as the early 1970s, if you were a young Tamilian trying make his way in Bombay, Matunga was your safe haven. For, the central suburb had everything you needed to feel at home, from temples, early morning ‘tttifiinn’ and of course your filter kaapi. Similarly, in the two decades leading up to the horrific ethnic war in Sri Lanka, the Tamil Union Cricket Club (TUCC) was where you went if you were a Tamilian cricketer desperate to make a name in Colombo. And the P Saravanamuthu Oval (or simply the Oval as the locals refer to it) is where you showed off your wares.
This was a period before Muttiah Muralitharan even came into the picture, and much before he became a legend, and the face of Tamils playing cricket in Sri Lanka.
It’s not the easiest of the three cricket stadiums in the capital to get to. The approach is very much —along narrow well-shaded alleys and past little tapri shops—more like what you would expect to a quaint village ground and not the first venue to host Test cricket in Sri Lanka. The Oval is located in an inland suburb called Wanathamulla, which is mainly known for its low-income urban settlements. Like a member at the TUCC reveals, the slightly untoward location of the Oval was not by chance but rather by choice.
“Back then when the TUCC asked the government for a plot, Wanathamulla was in a much worse state than what it is now. But they wanted to keep us away. Even now we warn our members from parking their cars outside the gates,” says a member.
Curtains on greatness
Regardless, all roads—proverbial and otherwise—will lead to the P’Sara Oval over the next week or so as the curtains fall on Kumar Sangakkara’s remarkable international career. And though it’s Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) who have taken charge of arranging his farewell, the TUCC too are planning to install a plaque in Sangakkara’s honour near the pavilion. They are also planning a mini-presentation.
But according to the members, despite its paltry crowd capacity—only of 7000—the Oval will provide a perfect backdrop for Sangakkara to ride into the sunset.
The ground itself is a treasure-trove of history, and urban legends—including one about Don Bradman having stepped on it. The stands all carry a familiar Tamil feel to it, with the pavilion named after the late Mahadevan Sathasivam, who Garry Sobers called the greatest batsman on earth.
The honours boards that fill up the galley area are also carry the names of some of the most famous cricketers from the Tamil community, including Muralitharan, to have played the game, along with a few Sinhalese ones.
The other features here include a mini-grassbank near the old score-card, and the permanent hoardings that are used to advertise local products, the kinds you will expect on a local ground in Australia.
“What brings a great feel to proceedings here is how close the crowd is to the action, almost like they can feel each shot being played,” says another member.
As the war drew to an end, the amalgamation of Tamils and Sinhalese has become a feature of the new era that Sri Lanka is experiencing. While Tamil has become a compulsory language down south, Sinhala too is being corresponding taught in all the northern schools in a bid to bring people closer together. The unity in diversity is happening at the TUCC too according to the members.
“Back when I played, you would find only Tamils playing here. And someone like Murali would be sought after. Now it’s changed. We have even had the likes of Chandika Hathurasinghe (present Bangladesh coach) represent us, and now the TUCC is only Tamilian in name,” he says.
