By IANS,
New Delhi/Colombo : India’s President Pratibha Patil and her Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa will together watch Saturday’s cricket World Cup final between the two countries here.Patil will fly to Mumbai, where Rajapaksa will reach from Colombo, a Rashtrapati Bhavan official said.
Rajapaksa will arrive in Mumbai Saturday morning, a Sri Lankan diplomat said in Delhi.
“The president’s main engagement is the cricket match funtion. He will be returning to Colombo Sunday morning,” the high commission official told IANS.
Rajapaksa will be accompanied by Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and some senior officials. “The composition of his team will be known by Friday,” he added.
Rajapaksa’s spokesman Bandula Jayasekera said in Colombo that the president wants Sri Lanka to win the World Cup as a tribute to Muttiah Muralitharan, who retires from international cricket after the event.
The Sri Lankan president and his three sons had watched Sri Lanka defeat New Zealand to earn a place in the Cup final.