By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Cricket is a religion and it was rightly proved Saturday night when the whole of Kerala had just one agenda — to watch India play and win the World Cup.
Everyone, irrespective of their knowledge of the game, celebrated India’s stupendous victory over Sri Lanka.
The film industry also came to a halt as stars preferred to remain indoors to witness history in the making.
Speaking to IANS, veteran superstar Mammootty said that he took a break Saturday and was glued to the TV set at his plush home in Kochi.
“Of course… I watched every ball that was bowled. It certainly is a great victory for the country and for Indian cricket. As soon we won, I sent a message on Twitter,” said Mammootty.
The victory was particularly sweet for the state as local boy S. Sreesanth was in the playing 11.
“He certainly is a lucky lad because he played just two matches, the opening match and the final. All Keralites are proud that a local was part of the victory,” said Swaroop Kumar, a college student.
“Just like memories of the 1983 victory, this victory would also be discussed well over the next quarter century,” he added.
With the assembly polls fever peaking, even the political parties appeared to have taken a day off from the campaign to watch the match.
Popular Congress politician turned film star Rajmohan Unnithan said he skipped a party meeting of his friend and Adoor assembly constituency candidate Pandalam Sudhakaran.
“Cricket is a passion for me and I just did not wish to miss the final…I had no qualms in cancelling my election meeting programme last night. I rushed back home just to watch the match,” said Unnithan.
Senior priest at the Mar Thoma church A.C. Kurian, who celebrated his 74th birthday Saturday, said though his cricket knowledge is very limited, he watched every game.
“Though we had a family get-together yesterday, we wrapped up our dinner early to watch the match. All of us enjoyed the match,” said Kurian.