It was a great honour meeting PM Modi, say Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup-winning cricketers 

Colombo, April 5 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most powerful leader in South Asia, said Chaminda Vaas while Sanath Jayasuriya described meeting him as "a great experience". The members of Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup-winning squad went gaga over PM Modi after meeting him as a team in Colombo on Saturday.
 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Sri Lanka on Saturday for an official visit and took time out of his busy schedule to meet members of the 1996 ODI World Cup-winning Sri Lanka team.

"It was a great honour to meet him personally as the '96 team. We talked about sports during 1996, how we won the World Cup and how we beat India, and also about the future of Sri Lanka. It went really well.

"Honourable Prime Minister, I think, follows cricket. He knows everything as a leader, being the most powerful person in South Asian countries. H his cricket knowledge is very good and he knows about cricket and talked about 96, about Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda (de Silva) and asked me about how we beat India,"said former left-arm pacer Chaminda Vaas.

Opener Sanath Jayasuriya said meeting PM Modi was a great experience.

"It was a great meeting for us, the '96 cricket team to have a meeting with the honourable Prime Minister. And we discussed a few things. We just talked about our cricket, the present and the past, what we go through at the moment, what we do at the moment.

"He talked about, in general, everything. How he took over and how he developed the country as a nation. So we were discussing about that. And he explained everything about what he has done since 2014. So it was a great meeting for us and a great experience for us also because of some of the things we have never heard about those things. But the honorable Prime Minister has explained everything about what he has done for India," said Jayasuriya.

Jayasuriya's opening partner Romesh Kaluwitharana said India, under PM Modi, has helped Sri Lanka a lot.

"Actually, I think from the time His Excellency came into power, he changed a lot of things. He's done a lot of good for Sri Lanka also. Also, we are ever grateful for India, especially in times of crisis, India has always been there for us. And also especially in cricket, whenever you have a situation where financial comes in across, they always have been helping us with tours to get our feet on," said Kaluwitharana.

Former spinner and international umpire Kumara Dharamasena was excited after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said it was the first time he had seen a leader like him. Roshan Mahanama said meeting Prime Minister Modi was a "dream come true".

"Cricket connect! Delighted to interact with members of the 1996 Sri Lankan cricket team, which won the World Cup that year. This team captured the imagination of countless sports lovers," shared PM Modi on x.